Thankful

I didn't do much of a thankful post this year, but I am definitely thankful for four day weekends. I didn't take any photos on Thanksgiving Day, but I spent it with Caroline, so you can see her blog for way better photos than I would've taken anyways :) 

 

As I mentioned in my last post, my 10 year high school reunion was on Friday night. It was a lot of fun and good to see some old friends I had not seen in a very long time. And some friends I am lucky enough to see all the time...

Of course I stayed up a million years past my bedtime and paid for it in the morning, but I think in some ways I am much tougher than my high school/college self because I got myself up and went on an unplanned day trip with Eric on Saturday. We headed up to York/Ogunquit Maine to check out some possible houses to stay at in the summer with Eric's family. 

 

In between the search, we enjoyed some of the beautiful scenery in Southern Maine. I have to admit that before Eric and my last trip to Ogunquit, I only had a few (but all positive) experiences in Maine and I'm really looking forward to spending a week up there this summer and getting to know it better. It's kind of like a cool mix of Cape Cod and New Hampshire, with it's own unique twist and I am so lucky to live so close to so many beautiful places like this. 

Nubble Lighthouse, York. 

 Perkins Cove, Ogunquit

We ate dinner at a delicious restaurant in downtown Oguinquit called The Front Porch. Katie recommended it and it did not disappoint. Also, I think we found a house to rent next summer. So, success all around!

Today, it's all about productivity. I'm finishing up Christmas cards and getting some work done for class.

How was your Thanksgiving weekend (if it was Thanksgiving for you!) and what is your favorite place to go on a day trip from your home?  

 

 

 

 

 

High School. 10 Years Ago.

This Friday is my 10 year high school reunion. I'll spare you the "I can't believe it's really been 10 years speech" but believe me, I'm thinking it. 

 

I have had two reunions before this, my five year high school reunion and my 5 year college reunion, which was about a year and a half ago. Both I thought were going to be terrible for various reasons. Both were actually a lot of fun. So, I have low expectations for this one, with the understanding that it will probably (hopefully) exceed them. 

 

In no particular order, here are a bunch of things I thought in high school, that turned out to be wrong :) 

 

1.  It mattered a lot what I wrote under my picture in the yearbook It doesn't. t actually forgot what it said until my friend texted it to me yesterday. I now don't know what half of it means. But I know it was important to me at the time, and the people I referenced were important as well. I had a fear that if I wasn't friends with someone anymore I'd regret referencing them in my quote. Apparently I thought I was the type to have blow out fights with people. I'm not. 

 

2. It's going to be super hard to stay friends with my high school friends.  In fact, it's been quite easy with most people. Sure we don't see and talk even close to as much as we did in high school, but I still consider many of those people my friends. I listed 10 people, and of them 7 were at my wedding. Two of the three who were not I've talked to in one way or the other in the last 6 months. I still have a special place in my heart for all 10 of them. 

 

3. College will be the best 4 years of my life. Don't get me wrong, college was fun, however, like any time period in life there were many wonderful things about it and a few struggles as well. 

 

4. Time with family is not important. I've mentioned before that friends have always been a very important part of my life. In high school and the early years of college, I sacrificed a lot of time with my family to hang out with my friends (like many kids at this age do). I now value time with my family over pretty much everything. 

 

5. I knew everything. When you are 18, everyone wants to tell you that you don't know anything. I knew that was wrong, so I thought instead I knew everything. It turns out, they were wrong and I was wrong. There was a lot of great stuff I did know at 18. There was even some stuff I knew at 18, temporarily forgot, and had to learn again. I think I was a great friend-picker when I was 18 and I think I was a good friend to others during my high school years. But, of course I did not know everything and now I have learned- I still don't. Does anyone? 

 

What did you think in high school that turned out to be wrong? 

 

 

I know I knew everything. 

Music, Books and Looks of October/Goals for November

Well hello everyone, I am reemerging from a few days without internet. Yay! I have to admit over the weekend, I was TOTALLY not buying that Hurricane Sandy was going to be a big deal. Eric and I were at the Cape and I took this gorgeous picture of the calm before the storm...

As I always am when I am stupid enough to question God/nature, Sandy came back to bite me in the bum. I had no school on Monday or Tuesday, the wind was CRAZY on Monday night and we lost power around 6:00pm on Monday and it didn't return until 4:00am today. On Wednesday at work we all had parent conferences and some had Halloween activities as well. When I got to work on Wednesday at 6:40 am (which is a full 2 hours before the kids arrive), a LOT of teachers were already there. Everyone was freaking out because we all expected to have Monday and Tuesday to get things done. I have to admit I was feeling calmer because I totally snuck in the building on Tuesday to print out report cards and set up for conferences, mine started at 7:20 and I didn't want to be totally unprepared. Of course I hadn't showered, so I put on my nicest work dress to make up for it haha. I did shower at swimming the night before I swear!

Anyway, October! 

I did well with my goals: I read a long book (849 pages!), I went to swimming class and challenged myself with crazy drills, and I signed up for a grad class and technically started it this week except for the technical difficulties :) I did not go to yoga. Oops. 

Music

I don't have any new favorite songs at the moment, but I really like this kind of silly one right now: 

One More Drinking Song- Jerrod Niemann

 

Books

I only read 2 books this month, which is my lowest number in a long, long time. But I purposely didn't set a number goal because I knew I would have parent conferences and report cards to manage and plus I wanted to read a really long book. That, I did, so yay! 

Another fun, super light read by James Patterson. It was a quick read but I definitely enjoyed it. 

 

My friend Sarah recommended this book to me and I knew it would be the perfect book for me to read since I wanted to try something longer this month. I ended up convincing Eric to read it at the same time and we had a little healthy competition going during this book- whoever would get ahead would torture the other by telling them just enough to be annoying. Fun times. It was also fun because we could talk about the book as we were reading it. Basically the plot is about a guy named Jake, who ends up going back in time and trying to stop the JFK assassination. It has a side love story as well. I really liked it and my ONLY complaint about the book was that I really don't think it NEEDED to be that long. In my defense, I'm really not good with long books and movies, they always can be shorter is my philosophy. 

 

Miles

I did not accomplish any amazing miles this month. I did a 5K earlier in the month, which was fun. Since then I've just been running a couple of times a week whenever I can fit it in. I haven't biked at all, but my swimming has been pretty good. 

 

No amazing looks this month unless you count my attempt yesterday to not look like I didn't shower… and my ridiculous amount spent at the JCrew outlet earlier in the month. Oh boy!

 

Goals for November

1. Plank 2 Minutes, 30 Seconds. I started a challenge on Tina's blog last week where I am trying to take my plank time, which is currently 1 minute and make it much longer. I'm hoping for 2 minutes by the end of the challenge, which is in a couple of weeks and then by the end of November I'd like to be at 2 minutes 30 seconds. I made it to 1 minute, 30 seconds the other day so I think I can accomplish this goal!

2. Read 4 Books. I have a goal to read 50 books this year and I'm at 42, so that means I need at least 4 each month until the end of the year. 

3. Run a 5K once a week. Not a race, but just actually run 3 miles, sometimes I get lazy when I don't have a race to be ready for, oops. 

4. Blog once a week. Yes, I am aim low but that would be an improvement over this month. 

 

Any goals for this month? Books you recommend? 

 

 

 

Oh, The Places I Want To Go

If you know me at all, you were probably super nervous about how absurdly long this post might be when you read the title. I'm not really going to tell you ALL the places I want to go… because that could make up an entire blog topic, not just 1 post. Instead just some upcoming trips I'm considering. I'd love to get any thoughts you have, so chime in!

 

LA/San Diego

Technically I've been to LA and even San Diego once in college, but my priorities were a bit different back then and I'd like to go back and see something besides the inside of a Mexican bar. Ahem. Here are a few things I think it would be cool to see in SoCal:

1. A west coast sunset. I've seen this before, but it never gets old. 

2. Beautiful beaches. I did see Venice Beach last time and I'd like to see it again. I have not seen any beaches in San Diego, and I'm sure they are gorgeous. 

3. Hollywood. I don't know what there is to see, but I'm curious. 

4. Disneyland. Just for a day. I want a picture of Eric, Mickey and me. 

5. Wineries. There are some in between LA and San Diego? Perfect. 

6. Weather. I would go to LA/San Diego in February. I know that's not exactly the best weather, but I got a tan in LA in January, so I have high hopes that it will at least be better than Boston. 

 

Austin/San Antonio

I've been obsessed with a trip to Austin every since 2002, when I was obsessed with the song by Blake Shelton, Austin. My interest in San Antonio goes back even longer when my brother was obsessed with Davy Crockett. I'll admit though, I don't have a solid handle on what I want to see in both places. But here are some ideas: 

1. The Riverwalk. It looks cool, no? 

2. The Alamo. See above, re: Davy Crockett. 

3. Pearl Brewery. I just found out about this when doing research a few days ago, but I think we all know I love a good brewery. 

3. Barton Springs Pool. Another recent discovery, but after the trip to Yellowstone I love geysers. 

4. University of Texas. I like seeing random colleges and buying their sweatshirts. I really want to confuse my gym about what college I actually attended. 

Washington DC

The major draw of DC other than the million things to do is that I actually have friends who live in DC, who I could see. So that's a bonus. I haven't been there since 2001 when I went with my mom to look at colleges. I haven't done any of the tourist stuff since I was in 5th grade. I'll probably defer to Eric on this trip since he has gone a couple of times with his middle schoolers and knows the touristy things to do. I love tourism. Also potentially we could drive to DC. I know that sounds absurd (or totally normal if you are Canadian)- well particularly for me because I complain about even driving 3 hours. However, I could stop a lot on the way, in CT, in NY and even visit Philadelphia, where I've never actually been. So… that's another added bonus. Flights are pretty cheap too if I go that route. 

PS. If we go to DC, it would probably be in April rather than February. 

So… put in your vote? California? Texas? DC? Somehow get rich and go to all three?! 

Currently

Stole this from Amber and loved it :) 

Currently...

feeling stressed about work but happy about life :) 

reading 11/22/63 by Stephen King, it's 849 pages- maybe not my best idea for the month of conferences and report cards, I think I am currently 2% through

longing for a trip! (when am I not longing for a trip?) and for the day we can go back to the Cape regularly again

laughing at the hilarious things my husband says/does and the hilarious things my students say/do, I don't need to long to laugh in my life at all! 

crying about writing report cards 

looking forward to some fun this week, a possible Cape trip on the horizon and a family trip in December! 

journaling never… when I was little I kept awesome journals but ever since I started working I haven't been able to keep one up, I just tell Eric or my friends/family anything I would write in a journal at this point

celebrating swimming laps for an hour straight last night and somehow not being sore today! amazing! 

eating nothing at the moment, but my new favorite lunch right now is mashed sweet potato and avocado sandwiches, seriously- so good! 

running about two to three times per week, I need another 5K to look forward to

hoping my parent/teacher conferences go well, the first ones of the year are always scary because I never know what to expect! 

anticipating meeting Katie's baby! my best friend is in labor RIGHT NOW and I'm blogging to distract myself from freaking out haha (only because she's been in labor for like multiple days at this point!)

planning to visit Katie and new baby tomorrow, assuming he comes by then! 

drinking warm tea again, hello fall!

missing all my funny and cute kiddos from last year, and my college roommate who I once told we never get earthquakes in Boston, of course she called me out on that today after our minor earthquake last night (which I didn't feel because I was driving home from swimming)

listening to the TV in the background, Eric is watching one of his crazy shows… maybe listening is the wrong word, I'm not really listening...

making to do lists! It's going to be a crazy couple of weeks. I'll be a happy girl come November 1st! 

 

Just for fun, answer a couple of these in the comments section! 

Crabby Moods to Happy Moods

I have a student this year who is moody. I shouldn't start with that. I actually love this kid. He is super funny, very cute and such a nice friend to his classmates. He could be a model student and friend. Except… all of a sudden he will get in a bad mood and suddenly he is whiny, frustrated (aka pushing everyone around who gets in his way or interrupts what he wants) and very difficult to get through to. 

 

In a way though, isn't this what we are all like? At least, this is absolutely what I'm like. What separates me and most of my other students from him is that we have all learned to hide our moods from most people, and my little "moody friend" has not. Well, and that he tends to yell out super dramatic statements like "School is stupid. I am NEVER coming to school again!" when angry. It's hard to keep a straight face when kids say things like this. Sorry bud, about 1 month down and 13 years to go… just before graduating high school...

 

Well last week, I felt like say "Life is stupid. I am NEVER doing life again!" Nah, not that dramatic. I was just in a little rut and/or crabby mood. I've mentioned before that fall is a rough time of year for me. Sure I love the pumpkins and beautiful leaves, but the beginning of the year is hard at work. My students need endless help and support and it's not usual for me to do work for several days straight without coming up for air. It often feels like there will be no end in sight, even though I know December will happen, and I'll get a vacation and this will go uphill from there. It's happened six times before so I know it will happen again. And yet… I was just in a super crabby mood. 

 

The weekend came around and I knew I needed a quick attitude adjustment. Since I subscribe to Amber's thoughts that happiness is a choice, I decided I had to do something and it wasn't going to be easy because I knew had (more) work to do as well. But just like that I looked for all the good in this weekend that I could… and of course, it ended up being a fabulous weekend. 

 

In case you want to share in my joy, here is what I loved about this weekend. 

 

1. A delicious Italian food dinner on Friday night with Eric, Caroline and Jimmy

2. A successful 5K race on Saturday morning with Caroline and Jimmy. Believe it or not, this was Caroline and my first time EVER running together… can you believe that? We did a great job telling each other stories and the 3 miles went by in a flash. The race we did was the Welles Remy Crowther race, which is the 9/11 hero that Erin's son Welles is named after, yay!

 

3. Eric and I did a little day trip (yes, what makes me happier than trips?) up to Kittery, Maine and Portsmouth, New Hampshire. I spent way more than I normally do on some new clothes at the JCrew Outlet (love that place!) and then we headed to Redhook Brewery. This is probably our fourth or fifth time at this brewery and I love it every time. Our most recent visit was this summer to the Woodinville, Washington location. Memories! Finally, we walked around Portsmouth downtown and ate dinner a delicious pizza place called Flatbread Company. Happiness. 

When we got home, Eric and I decided to buy a new TV. It sounds impulsive but actually Eric has been trying to convince me for years, and has researched it pretty in depth. The TV he wanted was on sale, so I figured why not get his Christmas present early and have one less thing to worry about. The funniest part was that when we tried to buy it my credit card shut me off. I guess it looked suspicious that I spent close to $200 on clothes in one state and then decided to buy a TV in another. Definitely not my usual activity! But hey. Who says retail therapy is not real therapy? 

I guess that's also the difference between five-year-olds and me, I can snap myself out of a bad mood. 

 

What do you do when you need to be snapped out of a bad mood? 

 

Music, Books and Miles of September/Goals for October

The months continue to fly by! I still love this fun month recap from Lisa, so I'll do it again. I am skipping the looks because I don't have any interesting clothes at the moment :) 

 

Music

I might as well rename this section Kelly's Country Music Selections of the month. Country music obsession continues. It's been an 11+ year love affair, so I think it's here to stay. 

Wanted- Hunter Hayes

Time is Love- Josh Turner

Ronan- Taylor Swift- Last week Caroline and I were swimming and got to talking about Taylor Swift. I said that I don't have anything particularly against her, I even kind of like her but I've never particularly loved any of her songs. Only a few days later my cousin posted this video on her Facebook wall and I think I may have found my Taylor Swift love. Hard to listen to this song without tears, consider yourself warned. 

What If She's an Angel?- Tommy Shane Steiner- This is a major flashback song from 2002. I was reading Erin's post about song flashback and I started looking at what songs were popular in 2002 to give me ideas. Had some fun with that as you can imagine :)

 

Books

     

This was a good book- I really loved the characters. However, something about this author's writing style bothers me. I just felt like there was too much rambling in this book. Hard to explain!

 

           

I've been reading Jenna's blog on and off for the last three plus years, so I figured I would give her book a try. I liked it a lot more than I thought I would. It was a quick read, I think I read it in a day, and I don't do that often. 

   

This was our Blogger Book Club selection this month. I absolutely loved this book, loved the characters, loved the description of the time period they lived in… could never have lived back then and so thankful I didn't have to. I would've been one miserable housewife, I'll tell you that much. 

  

 The latest Rizzoli and Isles book met my expectations. It was crazy, they always are. 

This was my favorite book I read this month. I've been looking forward to reading this book for months ever since I read and loved Violets of March and Bungalow. It met and maybe exceeded my expectations and I think was my favorite book by Sarah Jio so far. I wish that she could write books faster because I love reading them :) 

 

Miles

Unfortunately I didn't accurately track my miles this month so I can't see if there was improvement over August. I would guess there was not since I was so much busier this month. However, on the fitness front I did finish my third triathlon (which I still have not done a recap of, blogger fail). I also continued to run because I am planning to do the Red Bandana 5K in a few weeks. 

 

As far as my goals in September, I did a pretty good job. I was able to keep up with reading and working out despite being back to real world living. I also had a goal to remain calm and positive. I'm not going to go crazy and say I managed this all the time, but I did try really hard to bring myself back to calm/positivity in difficult times. I had a tough time with the kiddos this month, but I've really tried to keep my attitude in check at all times. When I go into the day focused on the strengths of the kids in my class, rather than the struggles, I find the day goes a lot better for all of us. 

 

Goals for October

1. Read at least 1 long book. I've been flying through my books lately and I'm 3 books ahead on my goal to read 50 this year. I think this gives me some wiggle room to read a super long book this month. My friend gave me a recommendation so, I'll let you know if it happens! 

2. Challenge myself in swimming. I'm taking a stroke development class starting next Tuesday, so hopefully this will help :) 

3. Go to yoga… once. Seriously I need to aim low! 

4. Sign up for a masters class. I got a free voucher for a class last year because I had a student teacher. I am 3 credits away from Masters plus 15, so I need to sign up for (and take) a class. It's so hard to motivate myself to go back to school these days. I like my free time and pleasure reading so much. But I'm going to do it. Hold me to it! 

 

What are your goals for this month? Do you enjoy taking classes?