Too Good To Pass Up

So I may be a little behind with deciding on a Christmas card for us this year and actually thought about not sending one out at all but after reading about Shutterfly's 50 Free Christmas Card Promotion I immediately knew there was no reason not to. I've used Shutterfly on several occasions and have never been disappointed. About a month ago I was able to take all our pictures from our trip to Washington DC and New York and put them together in a great photo book. I love how easy it is to share our pictures from our trip with everyone now. Shutterfly has the cutest, most original designs and always offer the best promotions. I love these so far:




If you still need to order your cards too check out these links:

·Christmas Photo Cards to http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/christmas-photo-cards

·Holiday Cards http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/holiday-cards

·Wall Calendars http://www.shutterfly.com/calendars/wall-calendars

Sunday Getting to Know YOU

The questions.....


1. If a person has a booger in their nose. and you can see it, do you tell them?

Although it really does depend on who the person is, I would have to say yes, you tell them. I see this all the time in my classroom with my kiddos and I always tell them.



2. What are you passionate about?

Family, Friends and Career



3. How long have you been blogging?

Geez, I think it's been about two years. I started off blogging pretty consistently but have really slacked off lately. Hoping having the summer off will get be back to a routine.



4. What is your favorite "summer" drink?

Anything nice and cold and by the water.



5. What is your favorite type of music?

I would have to say country, followed by pop.



6. Something I do before I go to bed is......?

Drink water.



7. My Summer vacation plans are...?

To rest and catch up on sleep. It was a long, tough school year and I'm looking forward to lounging around the hous. At the end of June when Robert ends his school year we are off to Vegas for a few days with the family :)



8. My favorite must have, can't live without, beauty product is?

Concealer, enough said.

The Numbers Don't Define ME

Numbers. They're all around us and haunt us from time to time. Age. Weight. Height. Kids. Salary. And if you're a teacher like I am they can make you or break you when it comes to standardized testing.

This afternoon we received our much anticipated TAKS scores. Teaching came to an abrupt stop so that we could all meet in the lounge and look at NUMBERS. Who passed, who didn't? Who earned commended, who didn't? How we compared to other campuses? Was there an increase or decrease from scores last year?? As awesome as we did as a campus, there was no celebrating.... the NUMBERS weren't what they should have been.

Thank goodness, NUMBERS don't define me. I've never been addicted to the scale or too embarrassed to share my age. Standardized test scores, do not show who I AM as a person or teacher. I don't want my students to remember their TAKS numbers or percentages, I want them to remember all the fun activities we did in class that made the light bulbs go off in their little heads and helped them learn something that will stick with them forever. I want them to remember the times we all burst out laughing in the middle of a novel because of how brilliantly the author had written the story. I want them to remember the times we snuck out for some extra recess as a reward for all their hard work and their teacher beat them at Tag. Experiences like these DEFINE ME, not NUMBERS.

Getting to Know YOU

Thanks to MannLand 5 for the blogpost today.

The questions..


1. Do you have a fetish?
Let's see, perhaps summery dresses. I could live in them forever I think. My friends have even started describing dresses by using this. "That's a Jennifer dress."

2. Do you sing in the shower?
Not very often. The car is a whole other story. :)

3. Who was your first crush?
Probably Bon Jovi, in fact he still is.

4. What do you think is the best manly trait a guy could have?
An awesome sense of humor.

5. Do you sleep naked?
Nope

6. What do you do when (you think) no one is looking?
As mentioned earlier I sing in the car and probably lots of other things I shouldn't be doing.

7. What's the first thing you do when you go online?
Check Facebook

8. Summer is.....?
- only 9 school days away which is very exciting
- time for anniversay, will be 3 years on June 28th
- fun in the sun time with the beach only about an hour away from us
- friends, family and fun
- time to regroup for the next school year
- fireworks, tanning, BBQing and all about making memories

$5 and a Late Night Trip to Wal-Mart

Yesterday was such a lazy day around here. We stayed in ALL day so by 10:30 I was itching to step out. Robert and I decided to hit up Wal-Mart to see what we could find. Of course we ended up with throwing in some pretty random items into our cart. As we walked through the Easter section, I decided to throw in some materials for an Easter wreath. They had a huge bag of plastic Easter eggs for $2 and some crinkled basket filling for $1.50. Decided to go with two bags of the eggs just to be on the safe side and glad I did. I got to work as soon as we got home and here's the finally product:


Pretty cute, I think. May have to visit Dollar Tree later and see if I can find a cute bunny for the middle. Thank goodness for Spring Break!

Getting to Know YOU

Saw this on a few blogs and thought I'd join in on the fun. Here we go:


1. What's your favorite Easter candy?

Think I have to go with Jelly Beans

2. Who do you think is cleaner..men or women?

Women, most of the time

3. Which do you prefer..wordy blog posts or ones with pictures?

Love a combination post

4. Were you popular in highschool?

Maybe, a little at least that's my opinion

5. What's your bra size?

bish

6. How many states have you lived in?

One, - the biggest one :)

7. What's one blog you read every day?

SkinnyRunner

8. Peanut butter or Nutella?

PB

Click on the picture above to join in and link up :)

One down, four to go

I'm not sure who is more excited about Spring Break, us as teachers or the kids! Last week was rough with two straight days of benchmarking and this week everyone is feeling the stress of Open House which is on Thursday. Plus not to mention we are in full force tutoring mode, three days a week. At my campus we pull out all the stops for Open House. The classrooms in the main building have the daunting task of covering all their walls with layers and layers of butcher paper and placing all their students work outside. Because we are out in the portables we don't have a wall "assigned" to us which seems to cause some resentment. I make it a point to compliment them everytime. I'm glad Monday is done and am ready to get on with the rest of the week. I'm looking forward to tomorrow night when we will be sitting courtside at the Vipers game, a minor league basketball team. Since the closest NBA team is four hours away, it's nice to have Vipers games to enjoy :)

Bling, Birthdays, BBQ and the Oscars

That's pretty much what our weekend has been filled with so far. Yesterday morning I went
over to a friends house for some mimosas, girl talk and shopping for some Stella & Dot Jewelry. They have some really beautiful and unique pieces and since this is the 3rd party I go too I've started to collect a few. Last night we headed downtown to celebrate another friend's birthday. We hardly ever go out downtown anymore but there was no way we were going to miss her birthday bash. It was all fun and games until I realized this morning I left my camera behind. Had the case but no camera. I called to see if anyone had turned one in but of course they said no :( We've spent most of our Sunday lounging around the house. Robert has some meat out on the grill and I've been glued to the TV watching all the pre Oscar hoopla. Can't wait for them to start!

Enough Already

So for the past few months, I've become a major blog slacker. Although I log in almost daily, I've found myself perusing everyone elses blogs and never getting to mine to update. It's time to quit and get back to work on this thing. Not sure I can give a recap of all that has happened since my last post in NOVEMBER but I'll try.

November 15, 2009 - The week of my last post I was off to San Antonio to run my first marathon. The Rock 'n' Roll Marathon was the hardest thing I have ever done. Physically there is no doubt I was prepared thanks to Team in Training but mentally I struggled. I'm proud to say I made it to the finish line and although it took me longer than I had hoped I finished and have a medal to prove it. A lot of people have asked me if I'd do it again and the crazy truth is yes, I would!

December - Great month, two weeks of school, lots of fun times with family and friends and an incredible vacation. We spent three days in Washington D.C. and another three in New York! Oh, and a night in Atlantic City! The sights were incredible, people were great and when you travel with each other for a week straight boy, do you learn a lot from one another.

January - We brought in 2010 in Times Square with millions of others which was definitely an experience of a lifetime. A week later it was back to school for us and the vacation was over :( We spent a great time at my cousins wedding on the 16th. They had one of the most beautiful ceremonies I have ever seen and despite them playing the Aggie fight song at their reception we had a blast singing and dancing the night away.

So here we are two weeks into February. Wow, how time flies. Last weekend my crazy friends and I ran in the Edinburg 10K. I've really struggled with getting back into a regular running routine and boy did I pay for during the 6.2 miles. Lesson learned. Note to self: you must go out at least four days a week! Tonight we are off to Rock 'n' Bowl with family and friends. Although none of us will ever be invited to join a bowling league we enjoy making fun of one another and the great music. Also on the agenda today is the movie Valentine's Day. Hopefully it's 10x better than Percy Jackson and the Olympians. I saw that last night and was excited to go because I loved the book. Waste of money and just goes to prove the book is always better!

Much Better

Thank you for the get well wishes and supportive comments! They always bring a smile to my face. :) I was so happy this morning when I woke up and the stomach pain was GONE!!!! It made such a difference in my day. My class benchmarked almost all day today so there wasn't too much going on other than walking around, monitoring and some reading. I can't believe Tuesday is gone already, the week is just flying by and we can't wait to get to San Antonio this weekend. I loved today's quote the first time I saw it like this:

"The man who can drive himself further once the effort gets painful is the man who will win."
- Sir Roger Bannister

However, after looking at it again tonight I thought it needed some revising. So here is my version:

"The WOMAN who can drive HERself further once the effort gets painful is the WOMAN who will win."
- Jen

Rough Monday

I think Mondays are usually hard but today really took its toll on me. It started at about 3:30 this morning when I woke up with horrible stomach pains. It felt like I had just woken up the day after a killer ab workout. Problem was I haven't worke dout abs in a loooonngggg time. I think it may have been some seafood I ate for lunch on Sunday and maybe a slight case of nerves about this coming weekend. After waking up I had a hard time going back to sleep. When the alarm went off at 5:30 I contemplated calling in to work but sometimes its easier just to show up then to have to plan for a whole day of being out. Needless to say today was not fun but I got through it. Thank goodness for Robert who brought me some soup for dinner! Inspirational quote of the day to help get me past the finish line on Sunday:

"He who fears being conquered is sure of defeat."
- Napoleon Bonapart

A Week from Today

In exactly 1 week from today I will take on one of the biggest challenges of my life: running 26.2 miles in the Rock 'N' Roll San Antonio Marathon!!! When I decided to do this five months ago I was so unsure of myself and capabilities. I didn't just doubt my running but also whether or not I would be able to raise $2,500 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society as part of Team in Training. Now, only seven days away I know there was no reason for doubt.

Since June, my Saturday mornings have been dedicated to waking up around 4:30 A.M.!!! I know, I know that's insane! I've heard it over and over. The thing is no matter how tired I am, once I arrive to our practice location and see all my other teammates stretching, laughing (yes, it is possible even at 4 in the morning!) and talking about their weeks that tired feeling is replaced with one of confidence, comradery and inspiration. We are all reminded that no matter what our aches and pains may be that day it is nowhere near to what a cancer patient battles with on a daily basis and that we are MUCH stronger than we may think we are.


The friendships that I have created, mental and physical strength that I have gained and difference in helping cure blood cancers will stay with me much longer than a TNT season, they will stay with me forever.

Starting today I'm looking for an inspirational quote each day to get me ready for next Sunday. Here is today's:

"Anybody can do just about anything with himself that he really wants to and makes his mind to do. We are capable of greater than we realize." - Norman Vincent Peale, author

Ready to Get Back in The Saddle

So during lunch yesterday one of my coworkers commented on how she really hadn't seen me on facebook or online lately. My response was "well, I've been on but just for a bit, my life hasn't been too interesting and exciting lately."

I came home that evening and logged on to Blogger and was shocked when I saw the date of my last post----almost a month ago!!!!!! I then spent the next hour or so catching up on everyone else's blogs and came to realize that I miss blogging and posting. It's such a release for me and for the last few weeks it is what I think has been missing. Also realized that I don't like pity parties and that I had enough of me thinking there was nothing going on for me right now.

Last weekend for example Robert and I escaped to San Antonio for the weekend and enjoyed watching the Norte Dame/Washington State game. We had so much fun and really needed a weekend to ourselves! The weekend before I ran 20 miles with my Team in Training group in preparation for Rock N Roll San Antonio next weekend!!!!! Work has been crazy busy but I'm grateful I have a job to go to every day. This morning I had this in my inbox from walkthetalk.com: "To live a great life is to discover the life you have right now, instead of trying to invent a whole new life." Soooooooo true and time to start living by it!!!!!

Even Men Wear Pink

We watch A LOT of football here. To the point sometimes that I think those are all the channels we have! Last weekend I was glad to see that even the NFL can go pink in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.







LOVE IT!

Hello October!

I can't believe I forgot to post this a couple of weeks ago so when I found it tonight I thought it was a great way to welcome October! I worked on this a couple of weeks ago and loved how it turned out. I had seen a few different Halloween wreaths around but didn't feel like dishing out a lot of money for them. One Saturday morning I dropped by Michael's and picked up all the supplies for about $20. It only took about 25 minutes to make and started somewhat of a frenzy with my friends because now we all have a fun wreath on our door! Sorry about the poor quality of the photo, still haven't invested in a new camera. Looks a lot better on my FB page!

Dear Monday,

Have you ever thought of joining Saturday and Sunday and becoming the new weekend???? How great would that be? That way you wouldn't have to be in such a rush to get here!

Sick as a Dog

Well, it took a whole six weeks but I finally caught the infamous back to school cold. I wait for it every year and hope that it happens fairly early on and that it only lasts a couple of days, but this year it really seems to have a hold on me. I started with a sore throat on Tuesday. It continued Wednesday and finally by Thursday I had had enough. I didn't want to spend the weekend feeling miserable so I decided to visit the night clinic on Thursday. I got two shots and hoped that Friday I would be somewhat better. WRONG! I still went to school because sometimes it takes more work to be out than it does to just show up. The workday didn't help and as soon as all my kiddos were gone I was outta there. I slept most of the afternoon and prayed that today would be the day I felt better. This morning was not good, lots of coughing and sneezing so I decided I would just go back to sleep. I did manage to wake up for lunch--some soup Robert brought home for me. Finally this evening around 8 I started to notice a difference. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that tomorrow it will all be better!!!!

Family Secrets

I had been anxiously waiting to watch this episode on Oprah today and it did not disappoint. WOW is all I can say! Did anyone else watch? May have to go out tonight to get the book!!!!

T-R-O-U-B-L-E

Trouble is exactly what I got myself into this past weekend when I decided to run in my first half marathon. It all started about a month ago when I read this description of the run on a local website:

Come join us for some fun & fitness on Texas' most beautiful island, South Padre Island! The course is an out & back on the very scenic South Padre Island oceanfront, and is ran mostly on the beach. Tan while you run...in your bikini, swimming trunks, speedos, running gear or barefoot!

Now immediatley I knew I would not be running in a bikini or barefoot but the very creative use of adjectives really reeled me in. We look for just about any excuse to get out to the beach, plus I figured since I've been training so hard with my Team in Training group and have run 13 and 14 miles a few times this run would be like a regular Saturday morning run.

Boy was I wrong! The heat was unbearable, the sand was tough and there was not nearly enough water stations on the route. I think what also got me was that I ate a not so healthy dinner the night before, no breakfast the morning of and forgot my GU for that extra kick. It also didn't help to hear all the relay teams that were there say "those people that are running all 13 by themselves are CRAZY!"

Most of the 13 miles were actually not too bad, it was the last two miles that were killers! My mind was playing tricks on me and just when I thought I was almost done I would realize I wasn't anywhere near the finish line. Although I'm disappointed that I didn't stick to my regular 6:1 interval I am proud of myself for finishing. I know quite a few people who didn't make it all the way to the end. Although this is a horrible picture of the medal I got I just had to post it:

MIA

So I've been MIA for about a week now. One might think it was due to some very exciting and adventerous things happening in our lives but unfortunately that's not it at all. Since my last post this is pretty much what we have been up to around here: Work, Dinner, some Tv, work, dinner, PTO meetings, Meet the Teacher Night, Friday night football and of course who can forget both college and NFL football! Apparently Robert and I have both had trouble getting some sort of schedule and routine back into our lives since the beginning of the school year. We have managed to do some redcorating around the house. This is our latest purchase:

Now normally I wouldn't agree that we NEED a 55 inch TV but buying it did have its advantages. We took the 46 inch we had in the living room and moved it into the 2nd bedroom. That 2nd bedroom has now become somewhat of Robert's "man room." The bed that was in there has been sold and in came a new leather couch. It's where he has spent the last two weekends watching every fottball game possible and playing XBox. Now why is this an advantage you might ask? Well, it frees up the new TV for me!