Jen & Rob

Too Good To Pass Up

2010-12-05T13:20:00.000-08:00

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

2010-06-06T15:04:00.000-07:00

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

2010-05-24T17:49:00.000-07:00

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

2010-05-23T17:11:00.000-07:00

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

2010-03-15T09:33:00.000-07:00

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

2010-03-14T15:55:00.000-07:00

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

2010-03-08T20:25:00.000-08:00

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

2010-03-07T14:49:00.000-08:00

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

2010-02-13T07:26:00.001-08:00

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

2009-11-10T20:40:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-09T19:09:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-08T09:32:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-06T18:24:00.000-08:00

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

2009-10-11T17:58:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-09-30T19:39:00.000-07:00

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,

2009-09-28T04:37:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-26T20:38:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-23T15:16:00.001-07:00

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

2009-09-22T20:59:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-20T09:26:00.000-07:00

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!

Afterbirth: It's What's For Dinner

2009-09-11T15:49:00.000-07:00

This year as a 5th grade team we decided to incorporate current events into our curriculum. We thought it would be a great way to show our kids that history happens every day all over the world. Well today my co-worker was looking over some of the articles her students had brought in and came across this funny and interesting one we shared some laughs over:

Afterbirth: It\'s What\'s For Dinner

Can't wait to hear his explanation for choosing this article!

Beggars Can't Be Choosers

2009-09-01T21:12:00.000-07:00

It hasn't rained around here in who knows how long so yesterday when we got some scattered showers they were welcomed with open arms. It was nice to see my kids come back from lunch ad not be drenched from the sun. Well, today the rain decided to make another appearance. A much stronger appearance. Like I said we want rain, we need the rain but seriously did it have to start pouring and cause a power outage right at 2:50 when we were dismissing all 950 of our students!!!!! It was pure chaos. Kids were crying, screaming, trying to escape us to go play in the rain and parents were frantically trying to get into the building to take them home. My principal was off campus at a meeting and maybe that was a good thing because I'm sure she would not have been happy with the scene. Normally it takes us about 15 minutes to get everyone loaded up in their cars and on their way home. Today it took almost 45! Oh well, beggars can't be choosers right?

Bad Blogger

2009-08-29T18:58:00.000-07:00

I'm really missing my summer days of endless blogging and leaving comments. Although I have been on here this week, it's been more about reading everyone elses great, updated blogs. My first week of school flew by. My new group of kids is awesome! The sweetness and politeness they showed me at Meet the Teacher has continued and I'm loving it! Keeping my fingers crossed it last all year. :) We are not quite into a routine yet so tomorrow I really need to sit and plan our days out. It's hard to get in a good chunk of teaching time with them leaving to Spanish class, Art, Music and PE for 30-45 minutes every day so I'm really going to have to get creative with the scheduling.

Since Robert is in charge of attendance at his high school, he's had a ridiculously busy first week. One day they were registering kids until 6:30! It's been hard to keep our dinner and workout schedule at home too. We were used to having dinner no later than 7 and that did not happen at all this week. After dinner we are so exhausted we watch a little TV and then head straight to bed.

Fortunately we managed to run a couple days this week. I was a little worried that this was going to affect my 14 miler this morning but I was so happy it didn't. Although it was hard to get out of bed when my alarm went off at 4:30, the gratification of knowing I had just run a little more than a half-marathon was AWESOME! Robert and Charlie showed up this morning to congratulate me and the others after our run. :) Very sweet! As a reward to myself I enjoyed a pedicure. It wasn't very relaxing because my feet were still hurting from the run but I sooooo needed one. I think part of the reason I waited so long was that I was afraid of the rumors I've heard about black toenails and how they can fall off. Well, guess what? The rumors are true! As the nice lady at the shop took off the polish from my second toe I peered down to see a black toenail!!!!!! Not completely black but about halfway there! Oh well, if it goes, it goes and like my aunt said "in no time, you'll have a pretty new one."

Hopefully tomorrow I can get out some. Need to get my weekly Target fix and do some grocery shopping. All very exciting I know!

It Finally Arrived

2009-08-24T20:16:00.000-07:00

I feel like I haven't blogged in a while. Probably because the last week was filled with countless hours of teacher trainings and trying to set up my classroom. It's been a little tough to get back into the work routine. We haven't had much time to go out and find ourselves wanting to stay home on Friday and Saturday nights. Thank goodness for high school football, that should give us some excitement for the next few months. The highlight of my week was running with my Team in Training group and setting a new mileage record of 12 miles!!!! Very exciting and to think it will go continue to increase!

So the first day of school finally arrived. Everyone was dressed in their Sunday best and it was hard to tell who was more nervous - the students or the teachers! I was eager to see my students again after meeting them on Thursday. It's funny because they are always so polite and respectful at Meet the Teacher. There is a lot of "Excuse me, May I and Please" talk. As they walked in this morning it was awesome to see they were exactly the same kids who came in on Thursday! We spent most of our morning getting all our supplies labeled and organized. We had fun getting to know each other and even managed to get some spelling and math done. Although it wasn't a very heavy teaching day I am EXHAUSTED. I almost fell asleep while watching TV earlier --- like 8:30 earlier! One day down, 186 to go!!!!

One More Day

2009-08-18T21:34:00.000-07:00

Well I have officially been back to work since Monday and already I'm missing my times of lounging around, working out at random times throughout the day, facebooking way too much, and catching up on blogs. I'm so glad I spent all summer doing productive things like that because soemthing tells me it's going to be hard to fit those things in come next Monday. We've spent the last two days sitting for hours in our library listening to the importance of teamwork and trying to align our curriculum. Pure fun I tell you, pure fun! Thankfully tomorrow is our last day of that and we have Thursday and Friday to actually work in our classrooms. Thursday is Meet the Teacher and I'm curious to see who will be walking through my door. At my campus we never see our class lists until minutes before Meet the Teacher which is always somewhat nerve racking. A couple of my friends have asked me if I'm ready for the first day. Same answer to all of them, ready or not come Monday my room will be filled with 27 new, hormonal 5th graders!!!!!!

Lady Luck

2009-08-15T22:05:00.001-07:00

So excited about winning these:

and this:

Thanks to Inner Workings of a Barbie Doll and Shannon from http://writeonstationery.blogspot.com/!!!!

BTS Teacher Swap #2

2009-08-14T21:04:00.001-07:00

First off I have to wish Jen from Following the Footsteps a very Happy Birthday!

Today is the 2nd installment of her Back to School Teacher Swap and I wanted to share something that one of my coworkers shared with me a few years back. I refer to them as my Teacher Savers. They are note templates for parents to keep at home and have handy whenever they need to let you know about something or write an excuse for their child. I know that in the 8 years I've been teaching I have recieved notes from home on just about anything parents could find to write on and some of them have not been so easy to decipher! I run these off on colored paper and pass them out at the beginning of the year during Curriculum Night. I usually make about three copies for each family. Since I started using them I have found that not only have they helped me keep track of notes but are much easier to understand! Here they are:

Sorry about the quality of the pictures, had to use my phone. If you would like me to email you a copy of these let me know in a comment and I'll get them out to you ASAP. Thanks and hope these help!

Say it Ain't So

2009-08-12T21:09:00.000-07:00

I seem to be having a really hard time coming to terms with the fact that Monday is my official first day back at school. Is summer really coming to an end???? Somebody please say it ain't so!

Monday was spent at school reviewing and writing new curriculum, yesterday it was back to school for some grade level planning and as much as I wanted to make it back up there today to get some work done I just didn't have it in me.It's a good thing I hung around yesterday for a couple of hours and at least started to set up my room. My goal is to have most things in place before Monday. Although our students' first day is not until the 24th we all know next week will be filled with meetings, inservices and a lot of running around.

I've really been on a rollercoaster of emotions since late last week which I know has something to do with my laziness recently. Went for an interview, did well and then found out the district was cutting back on administrative positions and that it probably wasn't going to happen this time around. :( I know timing is everything and there's a plan for each of us but man sometimes that's hard to see. Like Robert told me over dinner "it's not the end of the world, you have a job to be thankful for and this is a great opportunity to grow some tough skin." Not too sure about the last part but well said.

Looking for Some of This ASAP

2009-08-08T14:22:00.000-07:00

“Serenity is not freedom from the storm, but peace amid the storm”

“God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”

“Right thoughts produce right actions and right actions produce work which will be a material reflection for others to see of the serenity at the center of it all”

Back to School Teacher Swap

2009-08-07T09:36:00.001-07:00

A favorite blogger of mine and fellow teacher Jen from Following the Footsteps is hosting a Back to School Teacher Swap. It's a great way for teachers to share ideas that they have used in their classroom and offer tips for a great school year. Today I'm going to share two ideas I've used in the past to get to know one another in the classroom.

Vision Boards

Last year during one of our teacher inservice days we worked on creating our very own vision board. A vision board is a poster that you collage with various images and text that portray who you want to become, what you would like to achieve, and your desires. We learned so much from one another while working on that activity that I decided it would be so powerful for my 5th graders to try this too. At meet the teacher I had my vision board on display for them to see. I then sent them home with the instructions for creating their own. Here is what a lesson might look like:

1. DISCUSS the difference between a wish and a goal. It's important to not discourage their dreams and get them to understand that it's ok to set goals even though we may not know how they will manifest. Here are some tips I found online:

Goal Setting Tips
•Be specific
•Do not limit your goals because you are unsure how they will manifest
•Always write the goal in the present tense
•Write goals for you - not others
•Revisit the vision board

2. BRAINSTORM - Each student should brainstorm a list of their personal goals. They should be able to do so using only a few words. For example: "My goal is all A's. " It may helpful here to provide them with some headings like friends, family, school and sports.

3. After they have created their list of goals, students should search through magazines to find images and text that represent their goals. I did give my students the option of drawing their own images, writing their own text, or creating something on the computer. As they are working keep reminding them that their pictures don't have to be in any particular order. It's ok to overlap them and that this is THEIR board and should represent them, not their friends.

4. Once all vision boards were completed, I had some moms come in and mount them on black construction paper and then laminate them. They looked AWESOME and the kids were so proud of them. We spread them out throughout our classroom and then had our own gallery walk. It was exciting to hear them say "Wow, I have that on mine too!" or "I didn't know you were such a good artist." Our vision boards stayed up all year and during the last week of school I passed them back out to them. We talked about how many of the goals we had set at the beginning of the year we had accomplished and how far we had come. I know a lot of those boards are now hanging up in their bedrooms.

Brown Bag It

Another activity that I have used in the past to get to know one another is Brown Bag It. At Meet the Teacher each student is given a brown bag (lunch bag size) to take home and fill with 7 things that represent who they are. On the first day of school they each show up with their brown bags and share with the class. I bring my own too and usually start the sharing session. This activity is a great way to learn about interests and hobbies.

Enjoy! Can't wait to read all the other great ideas!

Gearing Up

2009-08-06T21:10:00.000-07:00

To help with fundraising I'm taking part in a Team in Training group garage sale this Saturday and started gearing up for it earlier this week. I love garage sales but always have to remind myself that the goal is to get rid of things and not stop by others tables and buy stuff. I started going through my closet a couple of days ago and finally made my way to our dressers today. It's amazing how much stuff I forgot I had and how many T-shirts one can accumulate! It turned out to be somewhat of a mini fashion show because every so often I'd try something on, make my way to the living room and then wait for a response from Robert. Some things were saved and others were not so lucky. It was also nice to reorganize the closet and drawers. Hopefully they will stay nice and neat for a while! So far I have 5 bags full of clothes and shoes. It hurts me to price some items at $2 because I know I paid a lot more than that for them but like I said the goal is to get rid of things. Plus all the money raised will go straight to my fundraising for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Tomorrow I'm planning on making another run through the closets and drawers just to make sure everything that needs to go does. Keep your fingers crossed for a good turnout!

Tag, You're It!

2009-08-05T21:32:00.000-07:00

I was tagged on facebook to try this and thought it'd be fun to try it on here. It's a little lengthy so hope I don't bore you too much. Would love to see anyone who's interested try it on their blog!

1. What time did you get up this morning? 6:30
2. How do you like your steak? Medium
3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema? The Hangover

4. What is your favorite TV show? Grey's, anything reality
5. If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be? by the beach
6. What did you have for breakfast? Coffee

7. What is your favorite cuisine? Italian

8. What foods do you dislike? unfortunately not many
9. Favorite Place to Eat? Palms Cafe
10. Favorite dressing? Ranch
11.What kind of vehicle do you drive? BMW
12. What are your favorite clothes? dresses

13. Where would you visit if you had the chance? Spain

14. Cup 1/2 empty or 1/2 full? 1/2 full

15. Where would you want to retire? Beach
16. Favorite time of day? afternoon

17. Where were you born? Edinburg, Texas

18. What is your favorite sport to watch? Football

19. Who do you think will not tag you back? No idea

20. Person you expect to tag you back first? Just excited to see other bloggers try it
21. Who are you most curious about their responses to this? Everyone

22. Bird watcher? Sometimes
23. Are you a morning person or a night person? Night
24. Do you have any pets? Yup, Charlie boy
25. Any new and exciting news you'd like to share? Not that I know of
26. What did you want to be when you were little? be a nurse
27. What is your best childhood memory? spending time with grandparents
28. Are you a cat or dog person? dog
29. Do you like to read? Yes
30. Always wear your seat belt? Yes
31. Been in a car accident? Yes

32. Any pet peeves? not really
33. Favorite Pizza Toppings? Pepperoni
34. Favorite Flower? daisy
35. Favorite ice cream? Chocolate
36. Favorite fast food restaurant? Chick-Fil-A

37. How many times did you fail your driver's test? 0
38. From whom did you get your last email? Team in Training

39. At which store would you choose to max out your credit card? Nordstroms
40. Do anything spontaneous lately? Nope
41. Like your job? sometimes
42. Like broccoli? Yes
43. What was your favorite vacation? Cruise
44. Last person you went out to eat with? Robert

45. What are you listening to right now? TV
46. What is your favorite color? Purple

47. How many tattoos do you have? 0
48. How many are you tagging for this quiz? don't know yet
49. What time did you finish this quiz? 11:38

50. Coffee Drinker? Yes

You're turn!

@ the Beginning Again

2009-08-03T21:30:00.000-07:00

It is just crazy how fast summer flies by! I can't believe we are at the beginning of another week already and Monday is already gone! Today I ran around getting some errands done. Some Team in Training members and I participated in a bucket brigade fundraiser at a local Wal-Mart yesterday afternoon so I headed to the bank and post office this morning to get the donations posted to my fundraising account ASAP. My recommitment date is next Wednesday and I need to be at 25% by then so I'm going at it full force until then. After that I met up with Aurora for some sushi which was yummy! Then it was off to the grocery store. Robert and I decided last night that we needed to do a lot more cooking around here. We have really slacked off this summer and need to get back into some routine. Part of our plan was to create a menu for the week every Sunday so that we know exactly what to get when we go grocery shopping. Tonight it was chicken tacos.
The rest of the week includes fideo, a Tex-Mex skillet, pasta and some chicken breasts with veggies. I know we can do this, just have to stick to it! After dinner, I joined Stacy and Esteban for a 5 miler. Thank goodness the sun had already set because it was a tough one to get through! I have a training tomorrow and Wednesday---fun, fun, fun!!! It is definitely back to school time!

Check these Out

2009-08-03T07:48:00.000-07:00

Just came across two great giveaways that I wanted to share with you all"

In honor of Erica's new *jewelry without jewels* website, she is hosting her first giveaway! The winner will get the chance to pick the necklace of their choice, either from my Etsy shop or custom made. Stop by and get yourself entered!

inkOBSESSION designs will be celebrating her 1st Year Blogiversary soon anf is hosting a giveaway! The prize is a $25 gift certificate to Ink Obsession Designs! You could do some real damage with that! Stop by and visit her site.

Going the Distance

2009-08-01T11:09:00.000-07:00

This morning was a regular Team in Training Practice: stretching in the dark, mission moment in the dark, a prayer and we were off and running in the dark. It was all pretty routine except for the fact that we weren't running 6, 8 or 9 miles. Instead we were going for 10 MILES!!!!
I had been pretty nervous all week about today because the longest I had ever gone before was 8 miles. The whole way to the trail I kept reminding myself "If you can do 8, you CAN do 10!"

I had run on this trail in the past but had never followed it all the way to the end. We started off using a 6:1 interval from the start and were fortunate that for more than half the run we were accompanied by a nice, refreshing breeze. The scenery was beautiful and I discovered a lot of hidden gems out there.

Mission Trail Route
Find more Runs in Mission, Texas

Throughout the run there were three things that were complete lifesavers for me:

1. My new hydration belt.
2. My running crew -- Becky, Christina & Lulu
3. Strawberry Banana Gu

Seriously, had any of these things been missing, I don't think things would have gone as smooth as they did. I was so proud of all of us for finishing and now know that we can definitely go the distance.

Tonight we have a birthday party for our niece and a house warming party for my aunt. I'm looking forward to relaxing with family and celebrating my new distance with some frosty beverages! I hear some of them are excellent sources of carbs!

Anderson Asks the Question We All Wanted To

2009-07-31T07:43:00.001-07:00

I have to admit this had to have been just a little awkward. Oh well, it' still hilarious!

VIDEO: Anderson Cooper Asks Bachelorette Jillian Harris The "Sex Question" | RadarOnline.com

Shared via AddThis

Moving On

2009-07-30T18:08:00.000-07:00

I can't begin to tell you how lucky I am to have such great friends here at home and in blogland. The words of support and encouragement that I have read in comments, through text messages and that I have heard on the phone have been AWESOME! I truly believe that there is something bigger in store for me out there and my time will come. For now I'm moving on. If I'm meant to teach another year, I will and will give it everything I got!

Moving on...
Today I attended a technology workshop all day. I love technology but don't like to sit through and listen to somebody just speak about it. I'm more of a hands on kind of girl. So I spent most of the day navigating my way through this new program and trying to figure it out on my own. I hope I wasn't too rude but I really felt like the best way for me to learn and be able to go back and teach my coworkers was to just throw myself into it and go. By 3 I was really on a roll and was actually a little sad to have to call it a day.

Moving on...
Lucky for me there is a Target right by the school I was at. I had something that I needed to return and of course once you walk through those big red doors it's hard to walk out empty handed. Besides, what's better than some retail therapy???? I was able to get some gifts for a birthday party we are going to on Saturday and throw something in the cart for me too. I have spent all summer in dresses and when I saw this one I had to have it:

Moving on...
I'm really enjoying my workouts with Team in Training. Last night we had a tough hills workout at the good ole parking garage. We did a total of 7 runs for about 3.5 miles worth of hills! The first couple are always easy but after that the fatigue starts to set in and the calves start to feel like they're on fire. I really need to get moving with my fundraising. My recommitment day is two weeks away and I'm still short some funds. Any and all ideas are welcome!!!!!!!

A Recap with a bit of Whining

2009-07-28T16:04:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it's almost been a week since my last post! There's been a lot going on and I'll do my best to try and recap it all. Thursday I left to Austin for a three day conference. Austin is such a great town but we were on a strict schedule. Up by 6:00 to be ready by 7:30 each day! Although I learned a lot, it was hard to get back into "school mode." By Sunday I think all our brains were fried which made for a lovely, 6-hour drive back home.

Yesterday morning I had an interview with another district for a 7th grade reading/writing position. I've been looking and hoping for an assistant principal job since last year in my district and decided this summer that maybe my way in would be to teach in another district first and then move into administration. Plus the middle school experience would have been great. Well, the interview went well and they offered me the job. Problem is I'm still under contract in another district. I was hoping I could just be released from my administrator and they could fill the position but instead they decided to keep me until that happens. This morning the other district called me and said since I wasn't going to be able to get released they were going to have to give the job to someone else. Needless to say I was BUMMED! I've been at the same school for 8 years now and really would like a change. I'm going to keep my fingers crossed that something else opens up.

Since getting that news this morning I wasn't up to doing much. I think I need a looooonnggg run to clear my head and be ready for tomorrow. New day, new outlook.

Wednesday Already?

2009-07-21T22:55:00.000-07:00

Wow, these summer weeks are just flying by! I can't believe tomorrow is already Wednesday. We've had a crazy last couple of days.

Saturday after my run I was at home trying to recuperate when I get a call from Robert letting me know they had taken his grandmother into the hospital. Apparently Friday night she started feeling all the symptoms of a heart attack. Now she's a STRONG women and is not one to complain so for her to make the call took a lot. Robert's aunt takes her to one of the local hospitals only to have one of the nurses tell her she'd have to fill out a stack of paperwork and wait for her turn to be called. By this time the pain was even worse and there was no way she was going to wait there. They decide to drive over to the McAllen Heart Hospital and thank God they did because they took her right in! After a series of tests it was determined that her main artery was 100% clogged and bypass surgery was scheduled for first thing Monday morning. Like I mentioned earlier she is a strong women and made it through the surgery with flying colors! When we went by tonight to go see her we joked about how she is a "model patient." Usually after this type of surgery patients spend a few days in ICU. Not her, she went straight to a recovery room. Although we know there is still a lot more recovery for her we are so glad she is doing soooo great.

In the midst of all this we also drove down to the beach Monday afternoon to bring back our RV. Our last day for the summer was scheduled for this Thursday and we had planned on spending this week there but with everything going on with his grandma we really wanted to be home.

Thursday I am off to Austin for a few days to attend a conference. Funny thing is tonight while running out on the trail by my school I bump into my principal. I asked her if she was ready for this conference and her response was just like mine. We both feel like this conference will be great but it also means we are headed into school mode soon. :( Tomorrow I need to do some major cleaning up around here and finally get that pedicure I've been craving since Saturday!!!!!

Off to An Early Start

2009-07-18T07:30:00.000-07:00

Today was a big day for our Team in Training group. We were meeting earlier than we have in the past which meant getting out of bed at 4:15 and on the road 30 minutes later. Well at least that was the plan. I actually overslept and ended up speeding over there. After lots of sleepy "Good Mornings" and stretching it was time to run. At exactly 5:40 this morning we took off for an 8 mile run through the lovely town of Weslaco. This is what it looked like for the first 50 minutes:

No joke. It was so dark it's a miracle we stayed on track! For a split second I did feel bad for the people we probably woke up when they're dogs started barking like crazy when we ran by but then I realized if I'm up and running why isn't everyone else! I practiced a 7:1 interval with two of my teammates and am so happy for pushing myself to try it. An hour and 26 minutes later we were done and I couldn't have been happier! On schedule for the rest of the day: ABSOLUTELY NOTHING OTHER THAN REST. Oh and perhaps a pedicure. :)

Tortillas & Technology

2009-07-16T21:24:00.000-07:00

Since some of my friends are teachers and others are not we really look forward to summer because we can spend more time together. This summer we have tried to fill our days with pure randomness. Take today for example. We decided it was time we all learned how to make HOMEMADE tortillas. One of my friends' dad had someone come over and teach us from start to finish how to prepare a hot, yummy, tortilla. Here are some pictures:

It took us a while to learn how to roll the dough into just the right size and no they did not all end up in perfect circles but like Stacy said "it's about the taste, not the shape." Until I can roll a perfect shaped tortilla I'm going to agree with her. Aurora ran to the corner store while we continued rolling the dough and picked up some avocados and fajitas. It turned out to be a great meal.

After dinner Robert and I drove down to Best Buy and scored one of these:

Our desktop is just about dead and so we decided it was time for an upgrade. So far we love it! Tomorrow we are off to the beach. We are trying to get as much time as we can out there because next Friday Robert is back to work. Until then we are focusing on sun, sand and fun!

Lady Luck

2009-07-16T08:30:00.000-07:00

Isn't this sunglass case just too cute? I love the design and the fact that it's perfect for my oversized sunglasses.
Thanks to Tiff over @ http://tsharee.blogspot.com and
Rebekah from http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6581532
I am the new owner of this great case! Go by and visit Tiff's cute blog and stop by and do some shopping with Rebekah. You won't be disappointed! :)

Wordless Few Words Wednesday

2009-07-15T21:40:00.000-07:00

Robert was up bright and early today (4:00 AM!!!) for a fishing trip with his brother and uncle. His brother just bought a new boat and they wanted to go take it for a ride. About an hour and a half after he left I was woken up to see this picture on my phone:

Loved the picture but not the fact that it wasn't even 6 yet! A few hours later just to let me know he's having a good time this appears on my phone:

I was starting to think that all he might be catching was a buzz from that beer but then came this: I'm going to attempt to make some ceviche tomorrow. We have really grown to love ceviche with so many weekends out on the island!
I have to admit my days was not quite as productive as his. I lounged around all day. It seems the closer it gets to the end of our summer break the more lounging I want to do. This evening I met up with my Team in Training group for a hill workout. There's not too many hills around here so we workout here:

That's right, it's a parking garage. In fact it's the biggest one we have around here. Doesn't look too bad but five times up at full speed takes it's toll. Tomorrow we are looking forward to some lounging and maybe a tortilla making party. Random I know.

7 Traits that make me ME

2009-07-14T21:32:00.000-07:00

I saw this post on some other blogs and was so excited to get tagged by Katie so that I could play along! So here are 7 traits that I think best define me:

7. Patient - As a teacher this comes in handy on a daily basis. I have also found that this helps outside of the classroom too when dealing with other people.

6. Caring - I love to do things for others. It brings me such joy to bring a smile to other's faces.

5. Dedicated - In everything I am part of - family, husband, friends, career.

4. Curious - It's amazing how much time I can spend online looking for answers to random questions that pop into my mind during the day. I'm constantly asking questions and love to learn new things about everything and everybody!

3. Funny - Not sure if others would agree with this but I think I'm pretty funny and love to laugh and have a good time with friends.

2. Stubborn - Not a trait that is always good but I think it comes from being an only child. I try to be conscious about this and "back off" sometimes but I can't say it always works.

1. Obsessive - From time to time I tend to obsess about certain things --- blogging, facebooking, other random things.

I'm supposed to tag 7 other bloggers, but can't choose just 7 so if you want to play along start sharing!

Blog Hop - 3 Things You Didn't Know About Me

2009-07-14T15:00:00.000-07:00

Welcome Blog Hoppers! Missed out on the last one so hope you enjoy this one!

1. I do not own lipstick. Big shocker to some of my friends who have asked to borrow some! In fact it's been a quite a while since I shopped for some. Instead I get by with a collection of chapstick. This is currently my favorite: 2. I talk to this guy as if he was human. We have at least ten conversations a day. Sometimes I wonder what he thinks about the whole thing. I know my husband's thoughts but does he think it's weird too??

3. I'm training to run a marathon in San Antonio on November 15th. I joined Team in Training over a month ago and decided to raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society while training. I have not slept past 4:30 for the last 5 Saturdays!!!! Instead I drag myslef out of bed and join the group for an early morning run. We started off easy with 3 miles and are now up to 8 miles!!! It hasn't been easy but I'm looking forward to the challenge. Stop by and visit my fundraising page to learn more @ http://pages.teamintraining.org/stx/rnrsa09/jlopeztvof

Marlene on the Run

2009-07-10T09:37:00.000-07:00

I just discovered this AMAZING blog through another blogger : Marlene on the Run. Her story is both inspiring and motivating. In honor of her 500th post she is hosting a great giveaway. Go by and visit her blog to get inspired and entered.

"Charm"ing, Just Charming

2009-07-09T20:12:00.000-07:00

One of my best friends is getting married in December so when I saw a giveaway for 6 Wedding Cake charms from Peachtree Circle, I thought how perfect would those be for her! I went ahead and signed up for the giveaway and was ecstatic when I found out I won. They are so cute and are perfect for a bracelet or necklace. She can choose from a Ring - Next to become engaged, to an Airplane - Adventure in your life, to an Anchor - Faith, Hope, and Charity to a Bible - A life full of peace, to a Dove - A live of peace & love or lots of others. Now the real work starts as she tries to choose her 6! Thanks to Sarah from Windowboxes and Weissbier for hosting!

Weekend Recap

2009-07-05T22:53:00.000-07:00

Yesterday started off pretty early for me. 5:00 AM to be exact. Since joining Team in Training a month ago my Saturday mornings have been dedicated to training in different areas of the Valley. I have to admit that it is hard for me to get to bed early on Friday nights and then wake up so early the next day but I keep reminding myself of our cause. Again this week I had a really hard time sleeping the night before which it made it hard to get out of the bed. With it being a holiday our group was not as big as it has been however we all managed to finish either 5 (marathoners)or 2. 5 (half-marathoners) miles. After our run we headed over to Denny's for some breakfast and good conversation, picked up lots of good ideas for fundraising that I'm going to look into. My plans for the rest of the morning included a nice, long shower, some blogging, some TV and then a few hours of sleep. I knew Robert would be busy at a local BBQ cookoff and I was really looking forward to just relaxing for a while before heading out there. I managed to rest for a couple of hours when I got a call from Robert informing me to be ready in 20 minutes, he'd be waiting outside with a "surprise you'll love!" I was still tired and needed more rest but that surprise got me up and getting ready. I got in the truck and started asking question after question about my surprise. He stopped be and asked me to open the console and that's when I saw this: I was soooooooo excited and spent lots of time yesterday and today trying to learn how to use all it's features. Still don't have it all figured out yet but am enjoying it a lot more than my other one.

The rest of our afternoon was spent at a local BBQ cookoff that a close friend of ours was participating in. It was so hot and hard to be out there for so long but we really wanted to show our support for him and his cooking team. They ended up placing 6th in one of the categories. Considering he was competing against 46 other teams, that was AWESOME!!! The other way we showed our love was by serving as his taste testers. :)))Here's a pic of his BBQ pit and the flag in the background. How fitting for the 4th of July!

With all the activities and excitement of yesterday it is no surprise we stayed in most of the day today and just relaxed. Tomorrow is Robert's first official day of vacation and there has been some talk about heading out to the beach!!!

Smartfood Review & A Giveaway

2009-07-05T19:30:00.000-07:00

Go here http://aad108reviews.blogspot.com/ for your chance to win a $100 gift card!!!!

New Do

2009-07-02T22:01:00.000-07:00

A couple of days ago (and a few trips to the beach) I was just tooooooooooooo hot and frustrated I decided it was time to go short again with the hair. Thank goodness my hairdresser Tino is so flexible because he was able to take me in this morning to work his magic. The whole time before the cut I wasn't nervous. I always figure it's just hair and will grow out. I think it helps that my hair grows pretty fast too. Well this morning I wasn't nervous until I heard Tino say "We've never gone this short before, right??????" All the while chunks and chunks of hair are falling to the floor. When all was said and done though it turned out awesome and I love it! I would post a pic but I ruined the nice blowdry he did by doing spinning this evening. Tomorrow I'm going to try my best to do a repeat of what he did today but no matter how hard I try it never comes out quite the same. Who am I kidding? It's never anywhere near the same!

A "Charm"ing Giveaway

2009-07-02T13:09:00.000-07:00

Head on over to Windowboxes and Weissbier and get entered in her giveaway. One lucky reader will win a set of 6 Wedding Cake Charms. Even if you are not a bride-to-be or know someone who is getting married, there are so many options to choose from for gifts! Click on the picture in my sidebar to visit her blog and get entered.

Team in Training Workout #3

2009-07-01T21:46:00.000-07:00

Today was my third workout with my TNT group. I have to admit I was a little nervous. Our training calendar just said: Hills - McAllen, 4X2:00 AI, Bentsen Tower Garage, 7:00 PM. When I first read it was more like Blah, Blah, Blah PARKING GARAGE! How many levels you ask? After some stretching we all ran to the 5th level just to see what to expect. As we walked down the coaches explained our goal was to try and run to the top in under two minutes. Not bad, right? Except that we were going to be doing that 4 times in a row!!!! My first two times up weren't bad but by the third time up I was dragging. Although I didn't look anywhere near as cool as this guy: I did manage to finish! I'm really looking forward to our run on Saturday, it's going to be a 5 miler bright and early. If you haven't had a chance to visit my fundraising page here's the link again: http://pages.teamintraining.org/stx/rnrsa09/jlopeztvof
Remember every dollar counts!

Things I'm Loving Right Now

2009-06-30T20:55:00.000-07:00

With summer vacation well underway and Robert still working at school, I've found myself with ~~ALOT~~ some free time to peruse the Internet and watch way toooo much TV. Now normally this wouldn't be too bad but I've come across so many things I'd LOVE to have and have really had to use some SELF-DISCIPLINE to keep myself from hitting that "Add to Shopping Cart" button. So here is my wishlist:

Philosphy Life's a Beach Set - the description on their site is ridiculous, hard not to order one

Gianni Bini "Lux" in a 9.5 (even though my friend said they reminded her of prom shoes!)

Palm Pre by Sprint (maybe they could send me one to try????)

Tickets to see these two in September

IRONMAN watch with interval timer to help with TNT runs

Deluxe Wonder Wheeler Cooler & Beach Chair Cart 2009 - we've become experts at packing up for the beach but every weekend it seems like we are hauling more and more stuff out there!

Now is that really too much to ask for???? Some songs(been leaning towards country) I've caught myself singing over and over in the car:
1. Nest Days of Your Life - Kelly Pickler
2. Out Last Night - Kenny Chesney
3. Whatever It Is - Zac Brown Band
4. I Run to You - Lady Antebellum
5. Then - Brad Paisley
6. Kiss A Girl - Keith Urban
7. Always the Love Songs - Eli Young Band
8. Here Comes Goodbye - Rascall Flatts
9. Sideways - Dierks Bentley
10. People Are Crazy - Billy Currington

Oh Where, Oh Where did the Weekend Go

2009-06-29T20:55:00.000-07:00

This past weekend was my second week running with Team in Training. Friday night I stayed up too late trying to get all my fundraising letters ready so when my alarm went off at 4:45 AM on Saturday I wasn't a happy camper. One of my teammates and now friend picked me up about twenty minutes later and we were off to Weslaco. Our goal for Saturday was 4 miles. The coaches encouraged us to try an interval run. For me that meant running for 5 minutes, walking for 1. I have to admit that at first I wasn't sold on the idea, however I decided to give it a try. The first stop felt a little unusual, like I wasn't ready for a break yet and the competitor in me didn't like how many people were passing me up. However, one of the mentors assured me that in the end we would be right by if not in front of them. Forty two minutes later, her words proved to be true. It was nice to finish and not feel completely dead. After our run we met up for breakfast and more great conversation at a local restaurant.

Around noon, we packed up and headed to the beach. We had planned somewhat of an anniversary party on the beach with our friends. I am so grateful for each and every one of them. They all pitched in by bringing snacks and drinks. We played in the water, laughed, danced and enjoyed the atmosphere. It was so much fun! After a quick shower we headed out to dinner at Pier 19. They have a boardwalk that extends out into the middle of the water and they were able to get us a table out there. As much as we would have liked to continue to celebrate, we were pooped! It just wasn't happening.

After a much needed good night's rest we enjoyed a yummy breakfast at the Palms and then headed for home. We had a nice dinner planned for Sunday, our actual anniversary, but with all the excitement from Saturday we decided to lay around and relax instead. Turned out to be one of our best ideas yet! Here's what the UPS man delivered for me on Friday: I had seen on the Tiffany's website and loved it. It was even better in person and on my hand!

365 Days Ago......

2009-06-28T13:41:00.001-07:00

Happy 1st Anniversary!
We've had our share of busy times, we've had our share of quiet.
We've had our share of working hard and times that were a riot!
We've had our share of differences, and, sure, we've had a spat.
We've had our share of making up --- and, boy, we're good at that.
We've shared the good, we've shared the great, We've shared a tear or two.
I wouldn't trade a moment of the times I've shared with you.

Men vs.Women

2009-06-25T22:15:00.000-07:00

Tonight Stacy was nice enough to invite us (Aurora and I) over for wine and snacks. When we get together (as I'm sure is true for all women) there is never a shortage of topics for conversation. Even though we had spent three hours together earlier in the day there was still plenty to talk about over dinner! After awhile her fiance got home and joined us at the table while he had dinner. He seemed surprised by all the different topics we were able to cover in such a short amount of time and was pretty sure that in his ENTIRE life he had never had any conversations like that with any of his friends. That of course led us to talking about just how different men and women are in all aspects of our life (relationships with the opposite sex, relationships with the same sex, work, family, etc..) I found these two images tonight that do an EXCELLENT job of summing up these differences:

Sorry they are so small, here's the link http://media.photobucket.com/image/men%20vs%20women%252527s%20brain/MarsPhotos/Male_and_female_brain.gif

Study them carefully.They seem pretty darn accurate wouldn't you say????

Act Now

2009-06-25T09:04:00.001-07:00

The ABC's of Me

2009-06-23T20:49:00.000-07:00

I saw this over on Holly's blog and decided I'd give it a try. Here it goes:

A-Age: 31

B-Birth date: May 7, 1978

C-Chore you hate: Mopping

D-Dog's name: Charlie

E-Enter or Exit: Enter

F-Favorite color: Purple

G-Gold or silver: If someone else is buying, I'm not picky. :)

H-Hair color: Brown

I-Instrument: None, would love to know how to play the piano though.

J-Job Title: Teacher

K-Kids: not yet

L-Living arrangements: Live with Robert & Charlie.

M-Monkey or Moose: Monkey

N-Nicknames: Jen, Jlo

O-Odd thing about you: I have entire conversations with my dog.

P-Pet Peeve: Disrespect

Q-Quote from a movie: From Taking Pelham 123 : "If you don't NEED it, LEAVE it."

R-Right/Left Handed: Right

S-Siblings: 0

T-Time you wake up? During the school year around 6:15, summer time it varies

U-Underwear: All types.

V-Veggie you dislike: Beets

W-What makes you run late: the comfyness of the bed, reality tv

X-X-Rays: teeth

Y-Yummy food you make: Chicken Carbanora

Z-Zoo Animal: Flamingos

Team in Training Practice #1

2009-06-20T08:17:00.000-07:00

As I wrote about in an earlier post, a couple of weeks ago I decided to take on one of the biggest challenges of my life: A MARATHON! I am excited and nervous about it all at the same time. Thanks to Team in Training, I have coaches, mentors, and a group of ~~men and women~~ FRIENDS that are going to help prepare me both mentally and physically for the Rock 'n' Roll Marathon on November 15, 2009 in San Antonio. Today was our first practice at a park not too far from my house that I usually run at. The morning started off a little shaky for me because when my alarm went off this morning at 5:00 AM (yes, I know this is early but with the Texas heat if you don't get it done early, it probably won't happen) I hit the snooze button. Twenty minutes later I jumped out of bed, ran around getting dressed and headed out. After some stretching, prayer, and words of inspiration we were off for our timed 3 miles. Although I was dragging a little bit I still finished right under 30 minutes. I had the pleasure of meeting a few other ladies whom I've already exchanged phone numbers with and know we will be running buddies soon. I'm looking forward to our next practices and can't wait to see the person this experience will turn me into! If you'd like to know more about Team in Training and help us save lives visit my page at http://pages.teamintraining.org/stx/rnrsa09/jlopeztvof. I've added a button to my sidebar that will get you there too! Here are some amazing facts I've learned over the last week:
1. More than 823,000 Americans have leukemia, Hodgkin or non-Hodgkin lymphoma or myeloma.
2. Every five minutes, someone new is diagnosed with blood cancer. Every 10 minutes, someone dies.
3. Research funded by LLS has led or contributed to advances such as chemotherapy, bone marrow and stem cell transplantation and new, targeted oral therapies such as Gleevec®.
4. Childhood leukemia survival rate is up from 4% in 1960s to over 80% over the last 40 years.

There's lost more, but I'll share them with you later.

P.S. If anyone has some ideas for fundraising PLEASE let me know!

The New Living Will

2009-06-19T13:30:00.000-07:00

A good laugh courtesy of Stacy:

Last night, my husband and I were sitting in the living room and I said to him, 'I never want to live in a vegetative state, dependent on some machine and fluids from a bottle. If that ever happens, just pull the plug.'

He got up, unplugged the Computer, and threw out my wine.

He's such an jerk.....

Book or a Movie?

2009-06-16T22:20:00.000-07:00

Normally I would say movie but today I actually managed to read through the first half of a fun book and watch a great movie. After lunch today I convinced Robert to take me to Half Price Books. We were on a schedule because he had to be back for his afternoon trainings. We made our way in and I immediately went back to the clearance section. I found this and this for only $1 a piece. I decided to start with Begdorf Blondes first and am glad I did. Hopefully tomorrow I can get through the rest of it and get started on the next one. This evening we found the nearest movie theatre and watched Taking Pelham 123. It was more of a "guy" movie but I still enjoyed it. Although there was a lot of great lines my favorite had to be "If you don't NEED it, LEAVE it." So true and can be applied to many, many things.

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

2009-06-15T21:55:00.000-07:00

I was so excited this morning when I logged on and saw I had won Stuttering Shell's giveaway. I can't wait to get this set in the mail:

The lucky streak continued throughout the day. After taking Charlie for a walk along here
and meeting Robert for lunch, I decided to hit up the local Target and see what treasures might be hiding in their clearance racks. Sure enough within 10 minutes of walking in I had a cute cropped jacket and running top in my basket. I had been after the jacket for a while but the three stores around my area had all sold out before it even went on sale! What was even better was that I paid a little over $10 for both!

For dinner tonight we headed over to Brewster St. Icehouse.
It's pretty popular with the locals and we soon found out why. There's great music playing, the food is great, the prices are reasonable and the atmosphere is fun. We were so impressed we talked about maybe going back for lunch before we leave on Thursday. Tomorrow Robert has another full day of inservices and I'm off for some more treasure hunting.

Why Hotel Reviews are SOOOOO Important

2009-06-14T21:31:00.000-07:00

After lunch at Parroteyes on the island today we packed up and headed to Corpus. Robert has a Texas School Law Conference here until Thursday and with him being gone all last week to Austin Charlie and I decided to tag along for this one. As we drove in to our hotel I thought maybe we had been in the car too long because I thought I had heard him say we would be at the Holiday Inn and the building we were in front did not look anything like one. Here's a picture: Doesn't look bad right? Once I stepped in though and looked around it was a COMPLETELY different story. It was like we had gone back in time to the 70's. Seriously it needed some major renovations and the smell was not welcoming at all. After looking at the expression on my face Robert tells me that he knew this was a mistake. Apparently he had read some reviews and they all had nothing but bad things to say about this place. However, someone he works with had somehow convinced him it wasn't bad at all. We got back in the car and after a short "talk" agreed that this wasn't the place for us. As we drove off the bums hanging out in the front of the hotel reassured us we had made the best decision. I quickly googled the number for the Omni, which is where the conference will be held. After some time we got lucky and they found a room for us! What was even better was the fact that they were going to honor their $85 a night group rate for us! So for about $30 dollars less this is our home for the next few days: Since Robert will be busy during the day I plan to spend a lot of time here: Tonight I logged on to tripadvisor.com and read up on some of those reviews that Robert had seen about the other hotel. No way we would have stopped there had I seen them first! I think we've learned our lesson!

One more for the collection

2009-06-12T17:10:00.001-07:00

We are firm believers around here that we can never have enough koozies. As a matter of fact almost a year ago at our wedding my husband thought it would be a great idea to pass out koozies we had custom made to our male guests as a fun treat. They had our monogram on one side and this on the other "To have and to hold and to keep your beer cold." They were a hit! So when I saw BLC's Koozie Swap a few weeks ago I knew I had to sign up. I was paired up with Mallory from Just a Preppy Beach Chic Girl. Today I was so excited to see my surprise package in the mail. I got the cutest koozie from Mallory. Here's a picture of it: It will definitely be coming with us to the beach this weekend!

Going Postal

2009-06-10T09:22:00.000-07:00

For the last couple of days I've been on a mission to get everything in order for my passport. Yesterday after getting my birth certificate (the long one, apparently the card is not enough) and passport pics at Walgreen's I headed out to two different post offices only to hear that they had already reached their limit of 40 a day. The nice man at the counter told me if I wanted a shot today I needed to be there by 8. So this morning I dragged myself out of bed and walked through the doors of the post office right at 7:30. There was already seven people ahead of me. After about an hour they came out and started passing out numbers. The wait was horrible. I was tired and hungry. Then of course there has to be drama. One lady in front of me walked out to buy the paper while the man came by so when she returned it was only to find out that she no longer had a spot. She argued and argued with the lady next to her that 5 should be her number and finally the postmaster just let the two of them "share" the spot. HA! It wasn't until 9:30 that they started calling the first two people in. Finally at 10:45 and $150 dollars poorer I was done! In 7-10 days I should be free to roam about the world or as my friend said to cross the border to buy liquor and Mexican candy!

Taking Control

2009-06-09T12:53:00.000-07:00

Saturday my friend Erica invited us over for a Beauticontrol Spa Party. I had experienced one of these before at school during Teacher Appreciation Week but it had been so rushed because we only had 45 minutes during our conference, so I was really looking forward to this one. It did not disappoint. For two hours we worked on cleaning, firming, exfoliating and beautifying our face. Well, mostly just the right side of our face. The key during these parties is working on one side the whole time so that at the end you can compare how much better you look thanks to their products. At the end of the party it was pretty obvious that I really did need to start doing something to take care of my skin. I've never had a beauty regime. I just wash my wash, put moisturizer on and some makeup and go. As I've gotten older though I've noticed that what I've been doing is not cutting it anymore. I decided to try their "For 30's Skin" Maintenance Line.
According to their brochure the "daily facial is designed to replinish the skin's essential moisture, repair damage already done, revive and energize dull, tired skin and recapture the bright natural glow of youth." Seriously, who would not not dish out money after reading that. I just got the products today and am hoping to see my natural youth return ASAP!

Fantabulously Frugal Giveaway

2009-06-09T08:47:00.000-07:00

Head over to Fantabulously Frugal's blog for your chance to win an awesome giveaway. It includes everything from mints, to hairpins, to note cards to OPI Nail Polish! It looks well just fantabulous! Let her know I sent you her way!

One Room at a Time

2009-06-08T22:41:00.001-07:00

Over dinner one night a couple of weeks ago Robert asked me a very crucial question: "What are you going to do all day in June while I'm still at work?" Now I know he's just a tad bit jealous that my summer vacation has already started and his hasn't so I knew that my answer had to be good. Without thinking about it too much I replied "Oooh, I know. I'm really going to dedicate my time to organize several rooms in here." Well, yesterday I decided to tackle our laundry room first. It was a hodgepodge of wrapping paper, extra sheets and towels and of course the coveted golf clubs that take up way too much room. After about an hour and a half it was Laundry Room 0 Me 1. I did it! I was able to find everything a new home where it all made more sense. Today the battle began with the pantry. It's amazing how much stuff we had in there that was no longer any good. This job took some more time and although I did feel bad about throwing stuff away, it really was of no use to anyone amymore. Now the challenge becomes keeping up with the organization! Tomorrow I'm taking on my closet. AGAIN. I thought I had done this a few months ago but somehow it's back to chaos in there. My aunt is having a garage sale in a couple of weeks so it will be a good time to go through and set aside stuff for that. Let's hope tomorrow the score is DISORGANIZED ROOMS 0 ME 3 !!!!!!

I ♥ Craiglist

2009-06-07T13:39:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we purchased a new table which should be delivered on Wednesday. Robert had been on me about getting our current one sold before the new one came in but with all the craziness that is the end of a school year I hadn't got around to doing it. This morning as I posted an ad on Craigslist for one of our apartments that will be available in July, I decided to take a few pics of the table and post on it on Craiglist too. We've had success with Craiglist before, been able to rent out our units fairly quickly but today I was amazed when within an hour of posting the ad someone was at our door ready to buy the table! Of course now that it's gone our kitchen is looking a little empty but that's okay Wednesday will be here before we know it.

Inspired by TNT

2009-06-06T20:57:00.000-07:00

This morning after my run I headed out to my Team in Training informational meeting. An hour later, I walked out so inspired and motivated to face one of the biggest challenges of my life : a half marathon (or maybe the full 26.2) this November in San Antonio. My friends and I had toyed with the idea of doing it and have talked about it but this morning my mind was COMPLETELY made up. I'm doing it and there's no turning back. To see and hear from a group of runners who just competed last weekend in San Diego was AWESOME. I got that feeling that if they could do it then so could I. To hear the stories from survivors and patients of blood cancers was so moving. It really put things into perspective for me. My complaints of a bad day in no way compare to what a patient goes through while under treatment. Within the next couple of days I should be receiving more information on our training and fundraising sessions but when I left that room today this is what I knew for sure:

1. I CAN do this thanks to this group.
2. I WILL do this with the help of the group.
3. The fundraising minimum is not impossible and summer is a great time to get it done! Plus I know the blogging community is a great way to get the word out.
4. If I feel this great about it now, I can't wait to experience the feeling I get as I cross the finish line!

2 Days In

2009-06-05T21:01:00.001-07:00

That's right, I'm currently two days into my summer vacation and my internal school time alarm clock has woken me up by 6:30 AM both days!!!! My cousin who is also a teacher seems to believe that it is not an internal alarm clock but rather a curse. I guess I'll give it a few more days before I decide exactly what it is. Yesterday I kept myself busy most of the day by visiting all of my favorite shops. There's something so peaceful about browsing the aisles in your favorite stores bright and early when nobody else is out or after lunch when everyone is back at work. I found this adorable bandanna and margarita plush toy for Charlie in the dollar section of Target. You can't really tell from this picture but he's chewing on the lime that's hanging on the rim of the glass. Just like his momma!!!! I love this one! It looks like he's had one too many! I'm surprised that he hasn't destroyed it yet and taken all the filling out of it. I'm giving him one more day before I start finding it all over the house!

For dinner we headed over to Robert's co-worker's house for their end of year staff party. They sure do know how to let loose. Today I met Robert for lunch. Since he's an administrator he still has three more weeks of work before his summer vacation begins. After lunch I headed over to the salon to have Tino give my hair some life. Three hours later I walked out with a brighter, much cuter head of hair.I don't know about anyone else but every time I step into a salon and they start working on my hair I immediately get so relaxed and sleepy. By the time I get home instead of wanting to go out and show it off I just want to relax and sleep. Just as I got comfortable my aunt called to let me know they were moving into their new house and asked if I wanted to come over. She was too excited for me to say no so I headed out there. Their new home is custom built and beautiful. Of course there are boxes and boxes of stuff everywhere but it's perfect for the three of them. What I found funny was this: Of all things that MUST be set up today, both my uncle and cousin felt like their new 52inch plasma TV had to be up and ready!!!!!Oh the joys of moving. I'll be back to help them tomorrow after my Team in Training meeting. Since I've committed myself to running a half marathon in November I thought it might be good to be part of a training team. Has anyone ever trained with them before???

We Made It

2009-06-03T21:55:00.000-07:00

When I left school today at about 4:00, the school year officially ended and my summer vacation officially started!!!! Although today was only a half day with the kiddos it really did feel like a whole week rolled into one. There was a lot of cleaning up, hugs, kisses and tears. I had this same group of kids in fourth grade so we made some great connections and it was hard to see them walk out the door. Last night I spent over an hour writing each ONE of them and their parents a little note of thanks and good luck. It was great to see them open them up and read them today. That's about the time the tears started! On a brighter note, along with all the other activities we had this week, my friend Stacy texted me yesterday morning with a little extracurricular activity that happened at her house. Her text was letting me know "the proposal" had finally happened. We all knew it was coming but didn't know exactly when. I was so excited for her and can't wait for the wedding in December. I must give props to Esteban , her fiance for really making it a true bachelor/bachelorette moment. He went all out with the rose petals, champagne (well sort of) and candles lining the sidewalk?????? WOW!!!! One of our other extracurricular activities was tonight at Pepper's. Our friend and co-worker Mariana is off to Kingsville tomorrow. Her husband had been commuting back and forth all year to teach some classes at the university over there and now that the school year is over they decided to make the move up there. She will be taking care of their baby during the day and then head back to school for her master's in the evenings. I couldn't be prouder of her but will surely miss her! We've had a lot of great laughs and night outs!

Hanging On

2009-06-02T04:25:00.000-07:00

At this point I'm not sure whose genius idea it was to fill our last three days of school with so many activities but after only one day I was drained. Yesterday I survived a morning of and a whole afternoon of Don't get me wrong I know the kids love these types of days where we spend all our time out of the classroom and they have so much fun playing games and showing off their dance and music skills but as a teacher it's tough. We've never been in school this late in the year and I think we are all just ready to wrap things up. I know a lot of teachers haven't even started cleaning up and organizing their room, guess it will have to get done tomorrow after our Student/Faculty Softball Game and End of the Year parties. (Like I said three days of activties!) Today we are off with 150 5th graders and about 50 parents to Schlitterbahn for one last hurrah! Keeping my fingers crossed that the rain stays away!

It's Over Already????

2009-05-31T20:40:00.000-07:00

I can't believe the weekend is over already. :( After resting Friday evening, we woke up early Saturday and were excited about heading out to the beach. Since it was pretty early (8AM) I decided to take advantage of the morning and go for a long run while Robert took care of some errands before we left. We finally hit the road around 10 and were there before we knew it. Our first stop was the Palms Cafe for lunch. The food was so good and the service was great. They offer suntan lotion and flip flops for their guests which I thought was such a great idea. We will definitely be back. We spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing on the beach with friends and then later enjoyed a great dinner at Blackbeard's and some drinks at Tequila Sunset. It's no surprise we are so tired today. This afternoon we decided it was time for us to buy a TV stand. Right now we have one but when we first bought it it wasn't intended for that. After two hours in the furniture store we finally decided on not just a TV stand but a new table too! Here is what we got: just the stand, not all the extra shelves on the side and top

Can't wait for them to deliver!!!!!

No question is a dumb question

2009-05-27T21:17:00.000-07:00

As a teacher I've told my kids year after year that no question is a dumb question but today I think I finally realized (on two different occasions) that unfortunately that's not true. It happened while at the dentist getting my second root canal. Like last time they were all ready for me and took me right in but when he injected the first two shots to numb the area it just didn't feel like it had the first time around. I figured maybe it was just that I was nervous. Well, it wasn't. As he started working I was wincing and tensing up so bad because I could feel everything he was doing. So what does he do? Asks me "Would you like more anesthesia?" Uh, yeah. Good example of a not so good question. The second occasion happened at home with Robert. I casually threw out that an airline was running a special on flights to Vegas. I then asked him "Should we go?" That's right, a dumb question and I realized it as soon as I asked it. Robert LOVES Vegas and immediately I saw his mind working. He ran around and found the laptop and started researching dates, times, hotels and even worked on a budget. I'll be more careful next time I want to tell my students no question is a dumb question.

It's Just Sad

2009-05-26T21:29:00.000-07:00

Jon and Kate plus 8 is one of my favorite shows so when I saw last night's season premier being rerun tonight I couldn't wait to watch it. About 5 minutes into the show it was just too uncomfortable to watch. Yes, I have heard the rumors and seen the tabloid magazines but to actually see the two of them on camera trying to explain what their family is going through now was tough. I'm sure this is not how they wanted to have to deal with the situation so why continue taping then???? There's no ignoring that there are major issues they are all having to deal with. The parents don't seem to think it is affecting their kids but I don't buy it. It has to. I think that was the hardest part to watch during the show, the shots they had of Kate and the kids and then Jon and the kids. It was clear they are not the same. At the end of the show they asked each of them what was in their future and neither one could give an answer. Now, I know it's none of my business but I just can't help to think about how entertaining it used to be to watch the show and yesterday's episode was just so sad.

A Much Needed Long Weekend

2009-05-25T20:37:00.000-07:00

Happy Memorial Day! Thank you to all the brave men and women who have fought and are fighting for our country and for us.

Well we are officially back from paradise (the beach) and it was so great to have a three day weekend. We got to spend some much needed time with family at Ethan's baptism, some R&R at the beach, some nice color thanks to a beautiful day yesterday, and even managed to get in some running along the way!

Saturday was so busy and started out pretty early. I woke up around 6:20 to make my 7:30 5K. I didn't stay around to get my official time but judging by how far I got on my playlist I'm thinking it was between 26 and 27 minutes. There were some really fast girls out there and I did my best to keep up. After that it was on to the baptism which was a very nice ceremony followed by lunch at Carinos.

Although we got to the beach a little later than expected on Saturday we were still able to set everything up before the sun went down. We enjoyed a great dinner courtesy of Stacy, her parents and Esteban. Their setup was awesome with tons of food, drinks and even live music. The firework display was one of the best we've seen yet! Yesterday was such a great day out there. Some of our friends had their jet ski out on the beach and we were lucky enough to take it out for a while and have some fun. For dinner Robert threw some steaks on the grill for the three of us. That's right, even Charlie got his own cut!

It's always so sad to come back but with no school today it should be a short and quick work week. We have a field trip planned for tomorrow and lots of other activities the rest of the week. Summer is closer and closer and I can't wait!

Oh no, I think I have This

2009-05-21T16:18:00.000-07:00

The Center for Disease Control has issued a medical alert about a highly contagious, potentially dangerous virus that is transmitted orally, by hand, and even electronically. This virus is called Weekly Overload Recreational Killer (WORK). If you receive WORK from your boss, any of your colleagues or anyone else via any means whatsoever - DO NOT TOUCH IT!!! This virus will wipe out your private life entirely. If you should come into contact with WORK you should immediately leave the premises.

Take two good friends to the nearest liquor store and purchase one or both of the antidotes - Work Isolating Neutralizer Extract (WINE) and Bothersome Employer Elimination Rebooter (BEER). Take the antidote repeatedly until WORK has been completely eliminated from your system.

You should immediately forward this medical alert to five friends. If you do not have five friends, you have already been infected and WORK is controlling your life.

Thanks for this Stacy, it helped me get through the looooonnnngggg afternoon. :)

Where's the Fast Forward Button????

2009-05-19T21:17:00.000-07:00

On this Tuesday night (and 10 days away from summer vacation) how I wish we could just hit the fast forward button to this weekend. Here's what I'm looking forward to:
1. A Saturday morning 5K

2. This cute little guy's baptism on Saturday

3. Heading out here for a couple of days with my favorite two men: Robert & Charlie

and
4. No school on Monday

Since that fast forward button doesn't seem to exist I guess I'll have to settle with fast forwarding through the commercials on my DVR:)

Great Start to the Week

2009-05-18T20:16:00.000-07:00

WARNING : If you're not a teacher in Texas the following post may seem a little boring. If you are or know someone who is you'll completely understand how a few percentages can mean so much.

Around 9 this morning one of our counselors walked into my classroom and said that our principal wanted to see me in her office. Immediately my heart sank and I knew the only reason she would be pulling me out of class in the middle of the morning was because our Science TAKS scores were in. Sure enough as I made my way to her office I see other 3rd, 4th and 5th grade teachers headed in the same direction. All 19 uf us crammed into her office, shut the door and waited for her to begin. As a school we did awesome with all grade levels scoring at least a 93% or better in all areas that were tested. After she went through and shared results with the other two grade levels she glances at her papers and says "Ok 5th grade now for science." She took a long pause which worried all of us and then said "Gosh, it's 99% passing with 55% commended!" We were thrilled. That's the highest we've been in a while. It was such a relief to hear that. My class did an AWESOME job.
We had 100% passing and 19 out of 23 students who earned commended performance. For science that is great! The standard for passing is 75% and to earn commended they have to miss no more than 3 questions. They were so excited when I told them. Finally we can relax and enjoy the last two weeks of school!!!!!! Robert had good news this morning too. His school met AYP standards after struggling for the last couple of years!! They've been through a lot of changes to try and get their scores to where they needed to be and it's great to see them find success. No more headaches, ulcers and lost sleep over TAKS!!! Well, at least until next school year!

Thank you Holly!!!!

2009-05-18T14:52:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago while visiting Kristen's blog I decided to partake in my first swap. I was a little nervous at first but after communicating with Holly, my swap partner and new blog friend I knew it was going to be so much fun. We each shared 6 of our favorite things and I had so much fun shopping for her. Everytime I went out to a store I found myself looking for something pink and cute for her. Saturday after I got home from our run in Corpus I arrived to an AWESOME surprise ---- my swap package from Holly. Here's a pic of all the great stuff I got: It was like my birthday all over again. As I started going through it I thought to myself "Oh no, did I send her enough????" She was too kind with the gossip magazines, OPI nail polish, too cool insulated Starbucks cup, notecards and those always fun gift cards. Everything was perfect Holly, thanks! Go by and visit her blog, she's so sweet! A big thanks to Kristen to for hosting!

From the Beach to the Bay with the "Sole" Sistas

2009-05-17T21:08:00.000-07:00

I'm so sad the weekend is coming to an end because it was soooo much FUN. In a span of only 24 hours, my Beach to Bay Crew and I managed to drive about 300 miles (to and from Corpus),stuff ourselves at lunch and dinner, squeeze ourselves into an unusually small Holiday Inn room, laugh, help others try to be more thoughtful, and oh yeah finished a RELAY MARATHON!!!!!! All of that with only about 5 hours of sleep too!!!

Our first Beach to Bay experience was AWESOME!(Yes ladies I already have the date for next years---May 15, 2010) Friday night we spent a lot of time trying to figure out the logistics of it all. Who was going to drop off who, what time we all needed to be at our legs and where and how in the world we were all going to meet up after it all with over 12,000 people participating. Luckily it all worked out. It was so great to see each other running towards the finish line and ready to pass the baton (pvc pipe) on to the next person. As the fourth leg, I was able to actually run through the entire Naval Base in Corpus. Considering I would probably never have been allowed access onto the base otherwise I thought it was a great experience despite the heat. It really was like a whole new world in there. They have everything they could possibly need and were so gracious to us as we made it through our 4.7 miles. After the race we all met up for lunch at Landry's before heading back home.

So having spent a couple of days with just the girls, now I'm going to channel my inner Oprah and share what I know for sure:

1. Mariana was born with an internal GPS. Without it who knows where we would have ended up on Friday.
2. Apparently you cannot run UNDER the JFK Causeway in Corpus. One must run OVER it to get to the other side of the island. And for future reference it's leg 3 and not 2 who does this.
3. Causeways are built so tall so that ferrys can indeed go under them.
4. It can be really hard for some people to be thoughtful. Take for example friend A who prepares goodie bags for us all and then friend B who laughs at others "clown" pajamas. Not thoughtful I know but we've made a pact to help her get better.
and
5. The race directors really knew what they were doing when they decided to name the event Beach to Bay because after 26.2 miles, you really do go from the beach to the bay. Who would have thought??????

Our next big challenge:

The Time Is Near

2009-05-14T21:48:00.000-07:00

Created by OnePlusYou

That's right my crazy idea four months ago to get 5 of my friends to get togther and run a relay marathon is now only a day away. Tomorrow after work we will drive to Corpus, squeeze ourselves into a room at the local Holiday Inn, enjoy a pasta dinner maybe, and then say our prayers before going to bed that we all make it ~~quickly~~ safely through our leg. We are still a little unsure about exactly how we are all going to get to our starting points but I'm hoping that when we pick up our packets tomorrow, the race officials there can clear things up for us. Tonight I decided to go out for a quick four miler since I knew I definetely wanted to take tomorrow off. It was nice to go out while the sun was still out for a change. I'm going to try and do that more often and make get a little sun while working out. I also worked on cleaning up the house since I won't be here tomorrow and don't think i'll be up for it on Sunday. Isn't funny how taking a trip to get away sometimes creates even more work for us???

Addiction through Association

2009-05-13T21:15:00.000-07:00

Hi, my name's Jen and I'm addicted to eBay.

No real surprise right. Well last week while Aurora was over for dinner we casually talked about me shopping for her on eBay. That night she found this White House Black Market dress: I asked her how much she was willing to pay and voila three days later she was the brand new owner of the dress. Monday I get a text from her in the middle of the afternoon about another WHBM number she was interested in. This morning when I looked at the bid history I knew this one wasn't going to be so easy. After an intense bidding war this afternoon I was so excited to text her and tell her dress no. 2 was now hers too!!!!! In a matter of a week she was able to get two new dresses for under $100. That's crazy for dresses from there. Of course what does she respond with "What should I get next? I need summer tops and shorts." Oh no I thought I've created a monster.

Biggest Loser and RHONJ

2009-05-12T20:55:00.000-07:00

Although I haven't watched the 3 hour finale of the Biggest Loser (must do tomorrow) I did just visit the NBC website and saw that Helen is the winner. Wow! I thought for sure Tara had it in the bag. Then again did you check out those guns and teeny tiny waist on Helen??? From what I gathered online it was a total of 140 pounds. That's amazing! I can't help but wonder though what happens after the cameras are off and Gillian and Bob are gone. She seems like a tough (heehee) woman though,she'll be fine. All of them are just so inspirational. When they ran that marathon last week I cried every time one of them crossed the finish line. What an accomplishment!

What I did watch tonight was the Real Housewives of New Jersey.(Did I miss the RHONY reunion??) Loved it and am hooked. I thought Dina looked familiar as soon as I saw her and then remembered her and her husband from an episode of Platinum Weddings. It all started to make sense. Can I just say that some of those women scare me. Really. I would hate to cross some of them in any way. The teasers they show at the end of the episode are so full of drama! I love it!

The Root of the Problem

2009-05-11T18:29:00.000-07:00

So today I had root canal #1 performed and so far so good. I was surprised by how quickly the endodontist and his assistant performed the procedure. They took me back as soon as I got there and had everything ready to go. All day I had prepared myself for a long, painful couple of hours at his office and I'm so glad it was the complete opposite. I was in and out in about an hour! 6 hours later (an episode of the View, Oprah, the news, a bowl of soup and all my maximum votes on Dancing With the Stars) the numbness has worn off and I'm so glad I'm still doing fine. Now although I'm grateful for their attentiveness and gentleness at the office, I still don't understand why these procedures are so expensive. How do people without insurance do this? I've been in and out of dentists' office for the last month or so and on a once-a-month teacher paycheck it's not easy even with insurance. The cost for a root canal at his office is almost $980!!!!!!!!! Just typing that ridiculous number makes my tooth ache. Thank god my insurance covered 90%!!!!! Two weeks until the next one! I better start saving.

Birthday Week Recap

2009-05-10T09:22:00.001-07:00

Wow, I think this has been the longest I've gone without posting! Guess that's what a birthday will do to you! For my birthday on Thursday I celebrated at our Teacher Appreciation Dinner. It never fails every year this falls right on my birthday so Robert and I always know to make plans for the night after. Thursday was fun with great margaritas, mexican food and karaoke. My group and I took top honors again this year by performing our own rendition of I'm Too Sexy. We switched out the words in the song to include teacher things like being too sexy for lesson plans, staff mettings and after school duty. My prinicipal loved it! Our PTO really goes all out for us during Teacher Appreciation Week. We get an hour lunch everyday with homemade food and desserts and then at our dinner we get these:
$50 to Target---wow, they really love us! Holding on to it for a Garmin watch.

Friday night we meet a big group of our friends for dinner at Palenque grill. The food and drinks are so good there and their service is phenomenal. My friends surprised me with that gorgeous cake. It was soooo good and isn't it adorable????. After dinner we went to a couple of bars for some drinks with friends. They are all so sweet for making it out on a Friday night after a long week. Thanks!

Last night it was dress up time one more time. Robert's school had their prom last night and as an administrator his presence was required. All their kids seemed to have a blast. It's amazing how different they are from my little 5th graders. Biggest moment of the night was when a group of girls locked their keys in their car. Robert saved the day by somehow managing to get them out. They were so excited, even asked him to pose for a picture with them so they could always remember their Senior Prom!

Today the celebrations continue with Mother's Day!

To: Me From: Me

2009-05-06T20:08:00.000-07:00

After my last 10K a few weeks ago I decided to invest in a running skirt. I had seen a couple I thought I liked at Target and then one evening while browsing through Ebay I found the Core Running Skirt by Nike. I did a little research and price comparisons and decided to go ahead and bid on it. It was almost double the price than those at Target but also looked like it be a little more durable. After a small bidding war I won!!! I've been tracking it since Monday and it looks like my gift for myself from myself should be here tomorrow. That's what I call good timing!

Cinco de Drink-o

2009-05-05T21:37:00.001-07:00

I have to give credit to my co-worker Judith for that title. I loved it when she shared it with us this afternoon over luch. Tonight was day 2 of my b-day week festivities and it was even better than yesterday. Robert took over dinner again tonight with a little help from some friends to BBQ some fajitas and chicken. They then made some yummy quesadillas and margaritas. He even bought me some of these which I had been dying to try:
It was perfect with dinner. The fact that some of those friends are still here glued to the TV watching the Mavs play makes me think maybe today was not so much about me. Oh well I got dinner and drinks out of it without much effort from me and that's always a good thing. :)

Too Cute Giveaway

2009-05-05T15:11:00.001-07:00

Ashley Brooke Designs and Misadventures of a Newlywed have teamed up for a giveaway that is simply too cute. Ashley is giving one lucky Misadventure reader a free custom design on any of her products! Go over and visit both blogs--you'll be hooked!

Let the Birthday Festivities Begin

2009-05-04T20:09:00.000-07:00

My 5th graders have been asking me for a couple of weeks now when my birthday is and what I'd like and how I'm going to celebrate it. Since they seemed to be so excited about it I thought I'd get into it too. On the way home from lunch yesterday I decided to try and do something every day up until Thursday to celebrate. Robert stepped in tonight and swapped places with me in the kitchen to get dinner ready. It was perfect he did the grocery shopping (for the most part), prepared everything while I went out for a short run and had it ready by the time I got back. It was so nice to not have to worry about making dinner tonight. Here's a picture of him in the kitchen getting things ready: Tomorrow we've decided to celebrate with quesadillas and margaritas in honor of Cinco de Mayo. He did such a good job today he's getting another guest spot in the kitchen tomorrow.:)

What a Sunday!

2009-05-03T21:28:00.000-07:00

I'm so glad I got to bed early last night because we had a full day today! The long run I wanted to take this morning didn't happen in the A.M. Instead we enjoyed breakfast at his grandmas. As we walked in they were already starting to clean up but she took our "breakfast order" right away. She is so good to us! On the way home we both decided that we needed to get our chores done today. For Robert that means cutting the lawn, for me it's laundry, picking up and MOPPING! I hate mopping but am so glad I got it over with! We decided to reward ourselves for our hard work by going out for lunch instead of making something at home. The rest of the afternoon was spent browsing the aisles of Tuesday Morning and Target. We have some graduations, baptisms, and communions coming up so the search for gifts was on. We ended up with a couple and a some cute ideas for the others. After I got home I decided it was time to make up that long run I missed this morning. I met Aurora out for a run and it was just what I needed. I set out with a goal and made it and she did awesome too. I ended up running 8.15 miles! I'm sure I'll be hurting a little tomorrow but it's so worth it.

Leelou Giveaway

2009-05-03T12:09:00.000-07:00

One of the blogs I visit pretty frequently is Leelou Blogs. If you haven't visited them stop by and look at their cute pre-made templates. They even have a free gallery for some of them! This week they are having a great giveaway. Stop by, browse around and get yourself entered!

2009-05-02T20:22:00.000-07:00

The ArtWalk last night was fun and Jesse's art work was awesome! His creativity and talent is unbelievable. On our way home Robert and I talked about how we need to invest in one of his pieces. I think I have a favorite but everytime I see something new of his I change my mind. Here are some pics of some of his masterpieces:

This morning started off rough. I woke up to realize that I had left my debit card at a bar we stopped at on our way home. Actually we realized it last night but didn't want to go back and get it. That was my first stop. I then rushed to Wal-Mart to pick up some food for Charlie. I'm seriously such a neglectful mother. On my way home Robert called me to tell me he had just received a call from his dad and it wasn't good news. His grandmother had suffered a heart attack and was in the hospital waiting to be taken into surgery. :( I rushed home to change so we could head to the hospital. Half way there we got a call letting us know to head back home. His grandmother was going to be taken in for surgery and we wouldn't be able to see her until 5. We both napped for a while and then went back around 4. We finally got to see her and she looked so good. She was still a little out of it from the meds but said she already felt better. We'll be back to visit her tomorrow and hope it's more good news. I've really slacked off with my running and am starting to feel it. I NEED a long run tomorrow and am going to try and get it in early. Off to bed now, need to be ready when that alarm goes off!

Goodbye April, Hello May!!!!

2009-05-01T15:28:00.000-07:00

Where did April go? When I woke up this morning I couldn't believe it was already the first day of May. I think the fact that we tested twice this month (beginning and end) played a huge part in April flying by. May is always such a busy month for us. We called the park at the beach to cancel the reservation for our RV for the month of May yesterday.:( As we talked about what will be going on in May we thought it might be better to just save that money for something else. The next few weekends we will be busy with graduations, baptisms, birthday parties, Mother's Day, the end of the school year, and of course Memorial Day weekend! Just typing them all out tired me out! That tired, worn out feeling must be going around because today I had 4 students out! I know for sure 1 was sick but the others I'm not so sure about. Tonight I'm looking forward to the last ArtWalk of the season. One of my friend's husbands is having a solo art show and I can't wait to see his creativity displayed for us all. I had thought about running in another 5K tomorrow but that may change if we decide to stay out a little late tonight. :)

Are the Prayer Candles Lit?

2009-04-29T20:37:00.000-07:00

Well tomorrow is finally our last TAKS test of the year!!!!! Today we attempted to get in one last review but both the kids and I are all SCIENCED out. We did manage to get in a good hour or so which isn't bad. With hopes and prayer they ~~should~~ WILL do great! Since this will be their last test at the elementary level and I'm sure they're tired of hearing me tell them over and over how important this test is I asked their parents to email me a note of encouragement and support so that I could include them in their TAKS Survival Bags tomorrow. You see the day before the test I usually tell them that on test day when they "think" they're done (for some this comes way toooo soon) and are about to raise their hand and say "Mrs. Lopez, I'm finished." to imagine their Mom or Dad right next to them. I tell them to imagine what their parents might say. Things like "Are you sure you took your time and checked your work?" For most of them this is enough to keep them focused and on task on test day. The response from parents was AWESOME and so cute. I know their faces are going to light up when they read them tomorrow. Wish us luck and keep us in your prayers! :)

Thanks Holly!

2009-04-28T20:29:00.000-07:00

I was so excited to see this yesterday in one of my comments. My new blog friend Holly was gracious enough to think of me and I couldn't be more excited! Check out her blog at Pink is My Signature Color.
The Rules of Accepting and Sharing this Award

1. Put the logo on your blog or post 2. Nominate at least 10 blogs that show an attitude of gratitude 3. Link to your nominees within your post 4. Comment on their blogs to let them know they've received this award 5. Share the love and link to this post and the person who nominated you for the award. 6. Tell us how you've come to have an attitude of gratitude.

To me an attitude of gratitude is the best way to get through life. Robert and I thank God for all we have been able to accomplish and the love we share. I am so grateful for my loving family, friends and experiences that have made me who I am today. Everyday I am grateful that I have a classroom of 5th graders to teach and co-workers to learn from.

I am going to pass this award on to...USC Emily, Patty, Twice as Nice, Maverick Anthony, Jen, Rebecca Jo, Quotes from the Queen,Lori, Holly & Ashley! If any of you ladies have already received this award, then consider yourself extra loved!! :)

WANTED

2009-04-27T20:53:00.000-07:00

I need the Priceline Negotiator BAAAADDDD right now. Our marathon relay in Corpus Christi is 18 days away and most of the hotels out there are booked. The ones that aren't are going for a little more than we want to pay. :( We tried looking online tonight on Priceline for a good deal because we've had success with them in the past but priceline seemed to have flatlined. We really want to stay two nights and make a weekend out of it but if Mr. Shatner doesn't come through tomorrow that may have to change. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Some Spring Cleaning

2009-04-26T20:21:00.000-07:00

Earlier this week Robert came home from work and told me he was feeling like he could never catch up with all the paper work his job entails. I suggested that maybe he should consider going in on the weekends for about an hour to try and catch up. It took a while for the idea to set in but he finally agreed that I was right. Apparently he went in the next day and told his principal he would be showing on on Sunday and she thought it was a great idea, she even suggested he try and get a couple of the other males to come in to and work on their ~~messy~~ disorganized desks. So this morning we headed out to his school for what should have been an hour except when I walked into his office I found something like this:
I turned to look at him and he was standing there with a frown on his face and puppy dog eyes and said "I told you I was having trouble staying on top of things." Needless to say that one hour quickly turned into three. While he worked on getting caught up on credit recovery and attendance paper work, I organized and filed the stacks that were cluttering all his workspace. We even set up his new mini fridge and stocked it with some goodies for those busy days he can't even leave the office for lunch.Here he is after I we finished working: Better, much better!

Jen & Rob

Too Good To Pass Up

Sunday Getting to Know YOU

The Numbers Don't Define ME

Getting to Know YOU

$5 and a Late Night Trip to Wal-Mart

Getting to Know YOU

One down, four to go

Bling, Birthdays, BBQ and the Oscars

Enough Already

Much Better

Rough Monday

A Week from Today

Ready to Get Back in The Saddle

Even Men Wear Pink

Hello October!

Dear Monday,

Sick as a Dog

Family Secrets

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

MIA

Afterbirth: It's What's For Dinner

Beggars Can't Be Choosers

Bad Blogger

It Finally Arrived

One More Day

Lady Luck

BTS Teacher Swap #2

Say it Ain't So

Looking for Some of This ASAP

Back to School Teacher Swap

Gearing Up

Tag, You're It!

@ the Beginning Again

Check these Out

Going the Distance

Anderson Asks the Question We All Wanted To

Moving On

A Recap with a bit of Whining

Wednesday Already?

Off to An Early Start

Tortillas & Technology

Lady Luck

Wordless Few Words Wednesday

7 Traits that make me ME

Blog Hop - 3 Things You Didn't Know About Me

Marlene on the Run

"Charm"ing, Just Charming

Weekend Recap

Smartfood Review & A Giveaway

New Do

A "Charm"ing Giveaway

Team in Training Workout #3

Things I'm Loving Right Now

Oh Where, Oh Where did the Weekend Go

365 Days Ago......

Men vs.Women

Act Now

The ABC's of Me

More Books for Summer Reading

Team in Training Practice #1

The New Living Will

Book or a Movie?

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

Why Hotel Reviews are SOOOOO Important

One more for the collection

Going Postal

Taking Control

Fantabulously Frugal Giveaway

One Room at a Time

I ♥ Craiglist

Inspired by TNT

2 Days In

We Made It

Hanging On

It's Over Already????

No question is a dumb question

It's Just Sad

A Much Needed Long Weekend

Oh no, I think I have This