One Memorable Party

Last night I had my first solo - in home Thirty-One Party.  Though I was pretty  nervous, I was looking forward to it.  This party consisted of mostly friends and family which was nice.  If I'm going to fall flat on my face I prefer to do it in the loving arms of these ladies.

The party did not go as well as I had planned....On My Part.  There were things I wanted to share and do that I forgot.  I said things that I later realized I shouldn't have said.  They sounded completely ridiculous.  But it was my first party.  I just left myself room to grow.

Despite all that, I think it went pretty well.  

It was a party I will never forget.  We live in Arkansas.  You know -  where it can be fifty degrees one day and seventy the next.  That pretty much means bad weather.  

Last night was just that - Bad Weather!  Tornado watches and a few warnings.  In the middle of the party while they ladies were all shopping the tornado sirens went off.

The hostess is one of those people who is terrified of tornadoes.  Nothing wrong with that.  I'm just not that person.  

She immediately grabbed her baby girl and headed to the closet.  We all followed.  We grabbed up our catalogs and order forms and split up into the closet and the bathroom where we continued to shop.

The bad weather passed, we finished our shopping, and had a great time laughing and visiting together.

One thing is for sure.  I don't think I'll forget my first solo party any time soon.

Miscellaneous Monday

Just a few random thoughts today.

1. I bought this blue & green chevron shirt from Accessory Dash a few weeks ago.  I ordered a medium based on their size chart and it is too big. :(  I was very disappointed because I think it is so cute.  I'm selling it now.  $35 shipped - that's what it cost me.  Let me know if you are interested. 

2. The husband and I have now been living in separate houses for three weeks.  Some people have his and her bath towels.  We have his and her houses.  I've been staying pretty busy which helps, but I definitely miss living in the same house as my husband.  

3.  I spent the weekend at House B with him.  We went boat shopping which was fun.  We looked at some brand new boats which translates into really expensive boats that are way out of our budget.  It was still fun.

Then we went and walked the docks and looked at used boats.  These were more in our price range.  I think we might have even found our boat.  We are so excited.  

3. Miranda is in the process of redesigning my blog.  I needed a good & recent pic of the husband and me to send her for the design.  I decided we looked nice enough for church Sunday that it was the perfect time.  I was explaining to the husband it had to be a good one because it was for the blog and this is when he chose to take the picture...

Oh my!  He thought he was so funny! 

The real picture will be coming soon. 

4.  I've had my first two Thirty-One parties but tomorrow night is my first in home by myself party.  I've been a little nervous but the more I think about it the better I feel.  It will be with friends & family and what better people to practice with.

5.  I was sitting at my desk today between classes when one of my students walks up and shoves a plastic bag in my face.  He is begging me to look up at what he has brought for improv show & tell.  I look up to find a snake skin in his bag.  I probably came across as rude.  I shoved my hand up and told him he needed to get that thing away from my desk.  I know I'm a Science teacher but I really don't care to have critters in my room especially SNAKES - dead or alive.  YUCK!

I Am Not Alone

Today has been a roller coaster of a day.  I woke up early this morning and got started on my to-do list.  I put a couple of things off until this morning because I was completely worn out last night after Zumba.  It was the second night in a row I had gone.  Woo!  I can feel it in my calves.

For whatever reason I decided to curl my hair this morning.  I never do this.  Two reasons.  1.  It takes FOREVER   2. I'm not sure I like it.

I was in the bathroom curling my hair and jamming to some TobyMac.  I love starting my day with my TobyMac Pandora station.  I was singing and dancing and acting a fool.  

It was a sweet reminder that I can worship my Lord anywhere anytime.  I am so thankful for that truth.  I don't have to go to a certain place to spend time with my Father.  He's with me always all places.  

That's when Satan started attacking.  It was like time sped up and all of a sudden I was running late.  Very late.  I was trying to get everything together for my first Thirty-One party. I was nervous.  Not really nervous about doing the party, but nervous that I would forget something important.  I wanted to make sure I had everything and I was prepared.

While quickly gathering up papers, I sliced my finger open on a sheet of labels.  It HURT so bad.  Worst paper cut of my life!

On top of that I had taken my weddings rings off while I was making dessert.  In my panicky running late search, I couldn't find them this morning.  I was almost in tears about it.  I felt naked without them all day.

I found them when I got home.  Of course they were right there in the open.  I was just all panicky this morning.

Then this morning I was sitting at my desk calling out definitions for vocabulary Bingo in Science.  I started getting all teary eyed just thinking about how blessed I really am.  

It ended up being a great day.  But man was Satan trying to attack this morning.  After work I was talking to a friend of mine who was also feeling attacked.  

Knowing that someone is walking through the same thing or something similar helps me feel better.  It is nice to know that we are not alone.

I hate how I too often feel like I can't share my hurts and struggles with others because they may think less of me.  That is just silly.

Thankful that God has not given up on me.  He is still teaching me and growing me.  

My First Party!

So I had my first Thirty-One party today.  It took place during lunch today at work.  

Big Success!  I am so thrilled for both Traci, the hostess, and myself.

We made a few little finger foods that were absolutely yummy. Traci made some pinwheels that I particularly enjoyed. :)

I made a chocolate chip dessert ball.  My sister-in-law, Joy, shared the recipe with me.  It was EASY & GOOD!

I got up and made it this morning.  It's simply a bar of cream cheese, a stick of butter, 1 cup of powder sugar, and 1 cup of chocolate chips.  Mix it together and let it harden in the fridge.  Serve with graham crackers.

See. Easy.  And so yummy.

Thank you Joy for sharing the recipe.  Thank you Aunt Sandi for recommending it. 

I'm enjoying being a Thirty-One Consultant.  It's fun. :)

Tuesday Tunes

It's been awhile since I shared a Tuesday Tune.  Too long really.

I've pretty much given up Christmas music - which makes sense seeing how it is mid-January.

But this one song seems to still be playing on the radio and is still coming up in my Pandora station.

I love it!  I hope you enjoy it as well.

Weekenders

Friday could not get here fast enough.  Last week was such a long and exhausting week.

After being off for two weeks, it was hard to go back to getting up early and going to work.  Not to mention that with it being the first week back, I was up and teaching pretty much every day.

By the time Friday rolled around I was more than ready to pack my bags and head to House B.  

My parents, both grandmothers, brother & S-I-L joined us at House B to celebrate my daddy's 51st birthday.  We had such a good time.  I had my camera all ready to capture the moment, but got lost in visiting and completely forgot to take any pictures.

We enjoyed pizza and dessert, but mostly just visiting and laughing until we cried.  I am so glad they were all able to come over and spend some time with us.  

Saturday was rainy and nasty all day.  It made the perfect day for napping and just being lazy.  We did get out long enough to hit an antique store on Main street and buy the husband a new nightstand.  

We got up this morning and headed to church.  Afterwards we ate lunch at our favorite restaurant in our new home town.  

Lunch was followed with a trip to the tiny theater to see Lincoln.

It was a beautiful Sunday.  Then we went back to House B where I packed up my stuff again - a little slower this time - and  left for House A.

It was hard.  Harder than I thought it would be.  Harder than it was last weekend.

I'm not a fan of being weekend spouses.  

But I did come home to a big pink box of goodies.

My thirty-one enrollment kit came this weekend and I could not be more excited.  I love everything in it!!

I Heart Binders

I thought since I shared with you about my inner geek concerning planners last week, I'd share my inner geek concerning binders this week.  

Basically I'm pretty much a geek inside and out. :)

A brand new binder to personalize and get organized almost makes me as giddy as a new planner.  

I love a reason to put together a new binder.  

I blogged about my "teacher" binder on my other blog.

  

As a teacher I try to avoid requiring my students from keeping a binder for my class.  Seventh graders are quite as OCD about binders as I am and it drives me crazy.  I'd just rather not deal with it.  

Messy binders make me cringe.

If you follow me on Facebook or Twitter, you know I just became a Thirty-One Consultant.  I am pretty pumped about it.    I think it is going to be a great way to stay busy over the next few months while Andrew and I are in separate places.  I'm also excited about meeting new people at parties.

As soon as I signed up I started printing all this wonderful information from their website.  I also received lots of great ideas from other consultants.

Binder Time!!

I'm still working on sorting through all the information and getting the contents organized.  

Any other binder lovers out there?

It's A Plan!

With the new year comes talk of resolutions.  People want to get organized.  That includes me!  I am such a planner.  I like to make a To Do list every day and write every little thing down that I  need to accomplish.  

I'm the kind of person who will write "brush teeth" on my To Do list just so I have something to mark off the list.  I write things down I've already accomplished just to see them checked off my list.

It seems lately that everyone is talking about their new cute personalized planner.

Obviously I needed a new planner in my life.  I am such a planner geek.  I absolutely love a new clean planner and writing down all the important dates and events of life.

I'm such a planner geek that as soon as I write in my new planner, I want to go buy a new planner because mine isn't clean and new anymore.   

I may need counseling.

I have heard tons of good reviews for the Erin Condren planners.  I've checked them out, but my budget doesn't allow me to spend that on a planner.

People have talked about Paper Coterie.  I LOVE these!  I designed one online.  The only reason I didn't order one is because I'm too impatient to wait on it to come in.  I think this will be the way I go next year though.

I've spent a good part of this week talking planners with Miranda.   This did nothing except increase my desire for a planner NOW.

I have been at House B all week which means the only place to shop is Wal-Mart.  I looked at planners earlier this week and saw one I kind of liked, but I didn't buy it.  I got impatient and went back for it yesterday and of course they were sold out.

Miranda told me about a planner by Greenroom at Target.  I looked them up online and they were super cute.  As soon as I got back to House A today I headed to Target.

Oh my goodness!  They had so many cute planners.  I almost walked out of there with ten different planners because I couldn't choose.

I was torn between the Greenroom brand and one by Heather Bailey.  

I finally decided to go with Greenroom simply because they had a hardback option.  I carry my planner in my purse and I liked the sturdiness of the hardback.  Other than that the two were very similar.  

Here is the one I finally chose.  

There were lots of cute designs, but I liked the simplicity of this one.

There is a month view with a week by week view behind each month.  

I can't figure out how to get the picture to turn the right way.  Sorry about that.

Anyway.  I like being able to look at a whole month, but for my actual planning I want a week by week glance.  It's not quite as overwhelming that way.  

I think I'm really going to like this planner.  It doesn't have cute pictures of my family like those personalized ones, but is functional all the same.  And cheaper!

You can see that I also like to use different colors of ink.  They don't mean anything.  I just like color!

I like the tabs in the Greenroom planner.  They are just an extension of the paper rather than a separate plastic tab.  Does that make sense?  I don't want the tabs to be obtrusive.

My only complaint is that the week view doesn't start with Sunday.  Doesn't anyone who designs planners know that Sunday is the first day of the week?  They start the week with Sunday on the monthly view, but not the weekly view.  Drives me insane.  I have looked at what feels like a hundred different planners this week and none of them start with Sunday on the weekly view.  

A little thing?  Maybe.  But it drives me crazy.  I finally gave up and allowed my week to start with Monday.

What is your favorite planner?

Number Nine

Nine years ago today I was blessed beyond my wildest dreams as I vowed to share my life with this handsome guy.

Life as husband and wife has definitely had its messy moments over the past nine years.

But I would not want to walk through those messy moments with anyone else.

Not only is he my husband, he's my best friend.  

2012 Books

I keep a board in my classroom to let students know what I'm reading.  In December of last year, a student asked me how many books I had read since school started.  I had no idea, so I decided I would keep a list of the books I read in 2012.  I also decided to set myself a goal of reading 52 books in a year.  I had no idea how hard or easy this goal would be.  I ended up reading 65 books and I'm almost finished with #66.


Here they are - all the books I read in 2012.  The ones with * are the ones I would highly recommend.


1. Black Sands by Colleen Coble*
2. Dangerous Depths by Colleen Coble*
3. Midnight Sea by Colleen Coble*
4. Peter and the Starcatchers by Dave Barry & Ridley
5. Return to Me by Robin Lee Hatcher
6. Flies on the Butter by Denise Hildreth
7. Ever Prseent Danger by Kathy Herman*
8. Never Look Back by Kathy Herman*
9. The Grand Scheme by Kathy Herman*
10. The Maze Runner by James Dashner
11. The Scorch Trials by James Dashner
12. The Death Cure by James Dashner* (Best book of the series)

13. Going Home by Wanda E. Brunstetter *

14. On Her Own by Wanda E. Brunstetter*

15. Dear to Me by Wanda E. Brunstetter

16. Allison's Journey by Wanda E. Brunstetter*

17. 10 Days - Abraham Lincoln by David Colbert

18. Leaving by Karen Kingsbury*

19. Learning by Karen Kingsbury*

20. Longing by Karen Kingsbury*

21. Loving by Karen Kingsbury*

----Learned that I would be teaching English next year and started reading young adult novels.

22. Flygirl by Sherri L. Smith*
23. Call it Courage by Armstrong Sperry
23.  Among the Hidden by Margaret peterson Haddix*
24. Guts by Gary Paulsen*
25. A Single Shard by Linda Sue Park*
26. Crispin: The Cross of Lead by Avi*
27. Letters From A Nut by Ted L. Nancy*
28. Milkweed by Jerry Spinelli*
29. The Devil's Arithmetic by Jane Yolen*
30. Girls, Drums, and Dangerous Pie by Jordan Sonnenblick*
31. Ties That Bind, Ties That Break by Lensey Namioka*
32.  Woodsong by Gary Paulsen
33. Chicken Soup for the Teacher's Soul by Jack Canfield
34. The Book Whisperer by Donalyn Miller*(for teachers)
35. Starters by Lissa Price*
36.Notes From the Midnight Driver by Jordan Sonnenblick*
37. If You're Not Here, Please Raise Your Hand by Kalli Dakos*
38. Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls*
39. Falling Up by Shel Silversteen
40. Ever After Ever by Jordan Sonnenblick*
41. Tangerine by Edward Bloor
42. Coming Home by Karen Kingsbury*
43. The Giver by Lois Lowry*
44. Counting on Grace by Elizabeth Winthrop*
45. In a Heartbeat by Loretta Ellsworth
46. Eggs by Jerry Spinelli
47. Evidence of Mercy by Terri Blackstock*
48. Justifiable Means by Terri Blackstock*
49. Ulterior Motives by Terri Blackstock*
50. Presumption of Guilt by Terri Blackstock*
51. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling*
52. A Stolen Life by Jaycee Dugard
53. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling*
54. Loser by Jerry Spinelli
55. Curveball: The Year I Lost by Grip by Jordan Sonnenblick*
56. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling*
57. On My Honor by Marion Dane Bauer
58. Copper Sun by Sharon Draper*
59. The Beginning by Karen Kingsbury*
60. The Bridge by Karen Kingsbury*
61. Best Friend, Worst Enemy by Beverly Lewis
62. Fire From the Rock by Sharon Draper*
63. Lincoln's Last Days by Bill O'Reilly*
64. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling*
65. Zen and the Art of Faking It by Jordan Sonnenblick.