Nine Years of Adventure

Outfit #1: Top: Target; cropped pants: New York & Co.shoes: Clarks; hair: side french braid
(Mak had to pose with me.)
Outfit #2: Dress:Francesca's; cardigan: Kohl's; belt: thrifted; argyle socks: Walmart; black riding boots (Date night for our anniversary)
Outfit #3: This whole outfit is thrifted! This dress is super comfy, and the sweater matches perfectly! Braided sandals are from Candy's.


Last week, my husband and I had our nine year anniversary. We first started dating when I was a senior in high school. We went to separate colleges, graduated, and got jobs before we got married. We got married on our five year anniversary of being together. We have been married for 4 years, and he is the only thing in my life I have ever been completely sure of. Every big decision in my life has left me questioning my choice, except for marrying him. I know that he and I are meant to be together, and we are building such a wonderful life. We got into cycling 3 years ago, because it was a way for us to exercise together. Now we are both on cycling teams and are both mountain/road biking. It is so nice to have a hobby for us both. Our relationship gets stronger everyday. He is my best friend.

This weekend, we went on a mountain bike ride at Lock 4 and then ate at Maggiano's to celebrate our anniversary. It was so delicious! From now on, we're going to get lasagna for our meal and bring another piece home for the next day. I wish my homemade lasagna tasted that good! Then on Sunday we met one of my teammates at Montgomery Bell for a skills practice ride. My husband rode with us for a little bit, and then did his own thing because we are slow and still beginners. He's super-fast and has super skills. I, however, crashed 3 times. BOOO! During one of my crashes, I had a caterpillar stuck to my shorts. When I brushed it off, it stung me! Apparently, some caterpillars have poison spines for defense, and I made it mad. My teammate and I examined it and made sure I wasn't going to pass out before we got back on the bike. We both teach 2nd grade, and this experience made for a great animals lesson.

In a few days, some friends and I leave for a girls' weekend in Gatlinburg. Hello, outlet malls! Hopefully I will have a few new outfits to post next week.. :) Have a great rest of the week!

Kayaking Streams of Consciousness

I went to bed tonight and had to get back up. My mind has so many things going on inside it. There is no way I can sleep yet. The last two or three weeks have been very interesting. My husband and I ride and race road and mountain bikes. Just about every weekend during the summer, we have had a mountain bike race on Saturday and Sunday. Two weekends ago, we had a time trial and an XC race at Montgomery Bell. The XC that weekend was probably the most difficult race I've had in my 4 month experience. I had a few crashes, blood running down my leg, and a flat tire (causing me to finish the race on foot). Luckily, I was still on the podium both days. The next day, I decided on and ordered a fancy new mountain bike. Yay! Then, I had my first evaluation at school that week. I had a dentist appointment the day we were trained on the new assessment, and I missed a lot of important info. Not knowing exactly what to do, I just took the mediocre example they gave us and tried to beef it up. I feel like I am an excellent teacher, so I basically planned to teach like I normally do. Isn't that what they really want to see? Isn't that a true evaluation? Apparently not. You must spend more time planning for one lesson to be evaluated on than you spend planning for the entire week in every subject. Yeesh! I could gripe all day about the new evaluation for teachers in Tennessee. (email me for more--not enough time for that now) I woke up the day before my eval with severe back pain. The day of my eval, I had excruciating pain in my back/chest and asked to move the eval to the morning instead of the afternoon (while my ibuprofen was still working). It turned out fine, and I felt very good about my lesson. That evening, my pain was so bad that I thought I had broken a rib. My husband took me to the ER, and I was diagnosed with pleurisy. I ended up passing out when they gave me shots for inflammation and pain. It was an awful feeling! I spent Friday in a fog of pain medication. That weekend was the State Championship for mountain bike racing. I watched as my husband and friends raced in the TT ). Sad. Then Sunday, I decided to try to get back on the bike for the race. I didn't have it, and only made it one lap. Bleck! (Hubby did great both days!) This week has been extra busy at work, and I still have not had most post-eval conference--its been a full week since the lesson. I have gotten no feedback yet on my lesson plan. Several of my coworkers who have had their eval since mine have already had their conference. I think I have been overlooked. :( Tonight I went to my first "Kit Fit Party." Hooray for new bike shorts! I am joining a new cycling team and am stoked to begin training with them. I also met a rep for several cycling product companies tonight. In college, I worked in retail, and felt like I could sell snow to an eskimo. :) Sales has always intrigued me, especially when it comes to something I love like cycling. The rep was awesome and offered to help me look into getting my foot in the door of the profession. I have a fabulous girls weekend planned in a little over a week, fall break coming up, and am going to see Wicked soon. So much on my mind. The stream is swirling, and I am getting tired. Time to put down the paddles and go to bed. Praying for peace of mind.
PS- Several days' worth of outfits will be posted soon!

Fun, Family, and Flying Shrimp

Outfit: t-shirt: Target; cardigan: Kohls; skirt: Bebe (thrifted); tights: Walmart; Bow flats: Target

The coolest kids ever! (I'm the oldest-- surprised?)

Today was my fabulous, creative, smart, cool, musical, talented, little sister's birthday. Obviously, I can't say enough about her. She began her music teaching career at the beginning of August and has to brave gobs of middle schoolers each day. For that, I bow down. There is a reason I haven't taught anything except 2nd grade! She is really going to make her mark on the world. She is the best friend and sister a girl could have. I am so proud of her! For her birthday, the whole family (Mom, Dad, Sis, Sis' BF, Bro 1, & Bro 2--my husband was on a recruiting trip for work) celebrated at a hibachi restaurant. As we walked in, we could hear a chef banging out some beats, so we asked for the musical chef and got one. He was awesome! I love dinner and a show, especially when it consists of throwing food at people. We had a great time celebrating my sister. The best part was Sis doing the hula to the birthday song. Love her!

Fun Friday

Top: thrifted; Skirt: thrifted and cut off; Shoes: Old Navy; Headband: Ribbon belt from another skirt.
At my elementary school, we have Fun Friday, which is just a way for the principal to get teachers who give worksheets all the time to actually do activities with the students. I love Fun Friday! I teach Quantum Learning-style, and always incorporate visual, auditory, and kinesthetic components in my lessons. On Fun Friday, my best friend/coteacher and I put our classes together and have a blast. We play off of each other and come up with motions, chants, songs, rhymes, and games to teach each skill. If the school board and the other powers that be could see the way we teach when we're together and how well the students learn, they might think about putting two teachers in every classroom. But we all know that everything in education goes back to m-o-n-e-y, and my dream world will never happen. Ok, back to Fun Friday...My favorite part of the day was singing the synonym song with my BFF. We both don't claim to be good singers, but we found ourselves performing for a captivated audience and got a round of applause. It was so fun, and the students couldn't wait to sing it too. Now, I wish every part of teaching was so fabulous!

When I grow up...

When I got my first classroom, I just knew I would teach for the rest of my life. I have been teaching for 5 years now and have decided that it isn't for me. I absolutely love the students and seeing the light bulbs turn on. I am a great classroom manager and a leader in my school/district. And I'm not happy. Now I have the daunting task of deciding what to do with my life. Most kids grow up with a dream of what they want to be. When I was little, what I wanted to be changed with each outfit. I pretended to be a teacher, doctor, lawyer, dog walker, gymnast, and princess. Not a big market for princesses nowadays, huh? Too bad--I would be great at it! Thanks Kate. For the next few months, I will be soul searching. Spirit walk, anyone? On a side note, here is what I wore today. (Picture day/PTO meeting.)
Top: Target (circa 2003); Skirt: LOFT (thrifted); Belt: thrifted; Braided sandals: Candies; Necklace: gift from my MIL