First Day of School.

I honestly can't believe that summer is officially over!  My first day of school is tomorrow! As a kids I was always really excited for the first day of school... like the I can't sleep night-before-Christmas kind of excited!  Not anymore.  I mean, I love teaching.  Don't get me wrong.  But, I LOVE summer!  I just really think that deep down inside I am meant to be a stay at home mom.  Of course, Chris and I don't have any kids for me to stay at home with, and we don't really live the kind of life style that could afford it.  But that is by choice.  I really think if we decided that was what was best for us as a family (which I'm hoping we will decide that one day) we would make the sacrifices.  As of right now, teaching is my dream job compared to anything else.  

And I am excited for the first day of school.  If you asked me if I was two weeks ago I would have said no.  But as of right now, I am looking forward to this year.  This will be the first year that I am teaching the same content as the year before.  I taught resource math 6th, 7th, and 8th grades my first year as a long-term sub.  My first actual year of teaching was 6th grade math.  Then I was moved to 7th grade math.  Last year was 6th grade science, and I FINALLY got to stay in the same grade and subject!  I feel like I have a good grip on what it is I'm teaching.  Sure, little things here and there change in lessons and all, but for the most part it's the same!  And after getting my classroom ready over the past couple of weeks, I am even more ready.  My walls were blank at the end of the year last year.  I wasn't sure whether or not I was staying in the same place, so I figured I should go ahead and take it all down.  I figured that even if I ended up in the same room there were a lot of logistics that needed changing.  So, when I got to my room recently this is what I saw:

I got A LOT done!  It isn't 100% completely done, but more than ready to go for tomorrow!  Here is what you would see walking into it now:

This last one has a funny story.  I decided I am going to put some personal things behind my desk: cute posters, some family pics, etc.  I'm not done yet, but I did get started.  I used to have a Twilight poster in my math class at my old school that the kids loved.  So, I decided to get a Hunger Games poster for this year.  I went to Walmart, and the poster section was a huge mess!  They only had one poster on display.  I really liked it.  It was of Katniss.  But, it wasn't in it's bin.  I looked around, and found one that was near the correct bin that I could see the Hunger Games sign on.  I was so excited!  Even thought they are rolled up and that was all I could see I wasn't worried because the Katniss poster seemed to be the only one that was for sale.  Here is what I found when I unrolled it!

Peeta Mellark.  It looks like I have a crush on him just like a lot of the 12-year-old girls I will be teaching this year.  Oh well!  Well, it's time for me to go to bed so I can get up super early to get ready for the 1st day of school!  Happy school year to all of my teacher friends out there... or to anyone who has kids in school!

And I have to admit, I lied earlier.  If you asked me if I could be ANYTHING I wanted to be, like if all options were open, I would want to be a dog.  All they do is eat, sleep, poop, and play!  That's the life... lol.

Not Too Shabby...

... If I don't say so myself! So, my plans of going to the school to work in my room today didn't happen.  I went yesterday for a little less than two hours.  I knew I wouldn't be there all day.  I really only had one thing in mind that I absolutely wanted to get done, but I thought it would take thirty minutes at the most!  I was wrong... I kept changing my mind on how I wanted it done.  Here is a pic of the finished product!

There were many times last year that I would run to the restroom and wish I had brought something with me (feminine product, pony tail holder, dental floss etc.), so I decided I would buy something like this to store those things in that we don't always think about.  I bought these drawers for $10, and I have been buying things that are good deals to go inside.  I figure I will stock it at the beginning of the year and then hopefully the other teachers will get the idea and bring stuff for it.  Yesterday, I filled the inside with the stuff I had bought for it so far.  The top drawer contains 3 air fresheners and a lint roller.  The middle drawer has 3 things of bayer aspirin, cough drops, and a few packs of gum.  The bottom drawer has a package of pads and pantiliners. All of the stuff inside was purchased for less than $8... with coupons of course!  

Speaking of my coupons... the reason I didn't go up to the school today is because I got started couponing this morning.  Chris has two nice ladies he works with that bring him their coupon inserts every Monday.  So on weeks like this one, when I didn't buy a Sunday paper, I can still have access to this weeks coupons!  I cut out and organized the 3 inserts that he received, and then I made a list.  Now, I don't like to make a list and just go to one store to make it convenient.  I like to make as many lists as possible to get the best deals as possible!  So, this morning my list consisted of 5 stores.  I only ended up going to 4 though: Dollar General, Walgreens, CVS, and Tom Thumb.  Here is a pic of the goodies I picked up!

Some of the stuff is hard to see, so I will explain.  I got two boxes of toilet cleaner and two boxes of gain dryer sheets at Dollar General.  Then I got two boxes of tampons and a venus razor at Walgreens.  At CVS, I got a pack of bobby pins, pony tail holders, and hair clips and a jumbo pack of dental flosser picks. My last stop was Tom Thumb.  I got 3 boxes of fruit snacks, three boxes of granola bars, a package of pantiliners, and two packages of pads.  In all, I spent $35.62.  My total should have been $76.21 which gives me a 54% savings.  Some stores were better than others, and I still have $7 in extra bucks to go back and spend at Walgreens.  They don't always like it when you break up your number of transactions, so I plan on going back tomorrow.

The best part was after my shopping I stopped by my gym to get a quick 15 minute massage on the hydro bed.  It was amazing!  I can always use some relaxation after a couple hours of couponing!  I'm about to head to pick up Chris.  Hopefully we can work out tonight, but the main thing I plan on doing is cleaning upstairs... fun, I know!  I'm just so excited about using the new toilet bowl cleaner I got!

We Joined A Gym!

On our way home from the river we decided that we were going to try and be healthier.  I even decided I am going to run a half marathon.  I later decided it would be best to start with a 5k, but I think I will try and work my way up!  Anyway, we pass a gym on our way home daily that I wanted to look into.  It has this HUGE sign on the front window that says it is only $12 a month with no contract commitment.  It looks tiny, but I thought it might be worth a look.  When Chris and I went inside I was somewhat surprised.  It was a little bigger than thought it would be, and we were told it was a full gym. (I guess that means it has all the machines a full gym would have... just not as many.) They also have a tanning bed and a hydro massage bed.  The guy let me try the hydro bed and it was AMAZING!  I recently terminated my monthly massages to try and save $80 a month, and I really thought I was going to miss my massages.  I might not with this machine.  It basically uses water jets to massage you.  He told us that a chiropractor said 15 minutes on the hydro bed is basically the same as a 60 minute swedish massage!  I haven't tried it for a full 15 minutes yet, but I will let you know how it goes!  The "$12 a month" sign is a ploy to get you in there.  You had to put $79 down for that plan and you only get to work out 3 days a week... either Monday, Wednesday Friday or Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday.  Their next plan was only $15 a month.  You had to put $49 down, but you could work out any day of the week.  The thing with this plan is the tanning and hydro beds are not included.  Their 3rd and final plan is the one we went with.  It also required $49 down.  It costs the most ($25 a month... which really isn't that bad) but has the best perks.  The tanning and hydro bed is included, you can work out any day you want, AND you can bring a guest with you!  So, I joined and Chris is my guest EVERY time I go!  The only bad thing is he isn't allowed to use either bed and he has to be with me to be able to get in.  We might end up getting him his own membership so that Laura can go with us as our guest!  

Starting August 1st (the day we joined the gym) we did a really good job of eating right and working out.  Our first workout was painful.  We only did 20 minutes of cardio and were BEAT, but you have to start slow... right?  We didn't go out to eat at all (okay, just subway once) and we worked out like 4 times!  Chris even downloaded this app that has programmed workouts on it that we can follow so that we aren't just walking around trying random things.  Like, I even lifted some weights.  I am SOOOOO weak!  It was sad that the 5 and 8 pound dumbbells were heavy, but I have nowhere to go but up!  Chris's birthday was last Thursday, August 9, so we cheated over the weekend, but we plan to get right back on track today!  I haven't told him that yet, but I am sure he will agree!  

His birthday was fun.  I got him a Bible with his name engraved on the front, and while I was at it I decided to go ahead and get me one with my future name on it!  I knew it was probably a gift that he wouldn't buy for himself but that he would enjoy having.  I also got him this really cool speaker.  I thought he would LOVE it!  Not so much.  It is really unique.  You plug in your iPhone or whatever and then attach it to pretty much anything.  It turns the item you attach it to into the speaker!  Like, our kleenex box is a speaker!  I was disappointed that he didn't like it as much as I thought he would.  I also made him a shutterfly book of some really cute pics of us.  It is really sweet.  I don't know how to upload the book, but if you ever come to my house you should look at it!  Check out the speaker here: http://www.origaudio.com/shop/index.php?dispatch=products.view&product_id=29778

Ok... I know it is early, but it is time to start being productive!  This is my last full week of summer.  I plan on going up to the school 3 or 4 times this week to start getting my room together and ready for the first week of school.  I also want to be productive at home though, so I'm going to go upstairs and do something... not sure what, but something!

River Trip 2012

So, this past weekend was our third annual river trip.  Chris and I have gone with a group of friends for the past few years, and we were happy to be able to go again this year.  Each year the group changes a little bit, but there are 6-8 core people (Chris and I included) and then usually an additional 4-6 that add on.  It is always a good time to get away and relax... especially since the past few years the river has been low so it doesn't flow very fast!  We got there on Friday afternoon and decided to do the short float.  They told us it would be 2-2.5 hours long.  It took us 3 and a half hours!  On Saturday, we did the medium float.  This one was a little more accurate on time.  We were on the river about 6 hours.  I made one mistake though.  The lady told us we would see signs at one point that told us to get out and walk around the falls.  Now usually when it is a little drop it isn't called falls, so I was all gung ho about getting out and walking, but when we got there I talked the group into going down them.  I'm NO daredevil, but I saw a 6-year-old going down the "falls" without any problems!  The group decided to trust me, and down the falls we went.  I should have learned last year not to go down any sort of rapid attached to another person (last year the girl attached to me flipped, couldn't get out from under her tube, thought she was going to drown, etc.) but I didn't.  I was attached to the SAME girl (shows how much we learned) and Chris at the same time!  Her and I both flipped.  I got carried down the river a few yards and thought I scraped my back pretty bad but turns out it was just my sunburn.  It was still pretty traumatic at the time.  Next time I see a sign that says "Get out and walk" I think I will listen!  I will say though, that of all 3 years, Chris and I had the best time this year.  We made sure to use plenty of sunscreen (even though there was still some burn) and drink plenty of water (even though there was plenty of non water) and we over all had a great time.  We played games both nights which is a favorite for us!  Here is a pic of some of the girls hanging out back at the cabin.

I'm on the left, then it's Britni (a girl I have known since Middle School), then Cathy (I met her over the weekend... she is a hoot!) and Ashley (a friend of Britni's who has ended up becoming a friend of mine)


We left Sunday morning.  Chris and I decided to go to Buccee's.  He has a friend who always brings him beef jerkey from there but had never been there.  I have recently seen pictures of people at Buccee's but didn't really know what it was.  I just thought it was a gas station.  Chris kept telling me it wasn't a gas station but couldn't really tell me what it was.  We decided to check it out for ourselves.  I have decided it is a combination of a gas station, farmers market, and gift shop.... on steroids!  It was ridiculous!  We probably bought more than we should, but I'm glad we went!

Here is Buccee the Beaver!  I should have stood next to him!


I am finally well rested and ready to enjoy the rest of my summer.  There isn't much left!  I can't believe it is already August!  I have training for school next week... yuck!  And Chris's birthday is next week...yay!  I'll be sure to update you on all of the activities!