Pick Me Ups

Everyone has bad days. And if you are someone who never does, well then you are lucky.

But I’ve learned with grad school and teaching, there are some days that just truly suck. There is no better way to put it. But I have to find ways to work through them since I love what I do and others are depending on me to buck up.

One of Mr. A’s sweet things is that he will send me funny videos or pictures to cheer me up. Isn’t he a sweetheart?

I figured that this time of the year people are getting a little restless. The days are short. It’s cold. Summer is too far away. We don’t have Christmas to look forward too. We’re trying to lose some of the extra winter “heating” we’ve put on.

So I’ve decided to post some of my favorite videos or pictures to cheer you up. I’ve done it before and it always makes me smile.

End of Ze World!

 

Dom vs Hipsters

 

Funny Cats

 

Pencil VS Picture<—- Pretty cool images

 

The Closet Prank

 

Giant Water Balloon

 

Last but not least….

Gets me every time….

 

Hope you all have a great week!

Love Affair

Nothing long or poignant.

And while my last post makes this seem hypocritical, I fell back in love with Twitter tonight.

It has led to some great friendships, amazing conversations, and thoughtful debates.

And to those who can disagree respectfully, thank you forever and ever from the bottom of my heart.

The funny comments. The witty remarks. The snark. The sarcasm. Love.

I still stand behind my previous post, but I am willing to forgive and move on.

Now, can we go back to discussing things like awards shows and Teen Mom and baseball and the best beauty products again?

But keep the snark and sarcasm. They make this fun.

Back to School…For Sure This Time!

So, from the last super short and dull of CAPS post, I got into grad school! Eeeeep!!

In case you didn’t know, I will be getting a Master’s of Arts in English. The program is kind of a survey program. I may want to focus on American Lit, but more than half of my classes can’t be just that. I think it is cool because then I am encouraged to try different classes and work with different authors and genres. Also, means I don’t have to pick something now which is awesome because that seems difficult right now.

Also, there’s a professor whose focus is on graphic novels and hoax poetry and comic books. YES PLEASE!!! Also, several who have PhDs in multicultural literature, which fascinates me, and another that focused on the Harlem Renaissance, which is something else I enjoy. (Yes, I also like the classics, but I thought these were unique enough that I will be taking those classes if possible!)

On top of just getting into a graduate program, I was also offered a graduate assistantship. Which means a couple things

First, free grad school (YIPPEEE). Which means not adding to our student loan debt. Also, I will get paid. Not sure I feel comfortable sharing the amount, but it’s decent. Not like I’ll be buying a new wardrobe by any means, but WAY more than I am making working retail.

Second, I will be teaching two sections of freshman composition. I’m both excited AND nervous about this. I am excited to be teaching again, (and yes I’m going to make Mr. A call me a professor hahaha) and even better to be teaching at a university since my ultimate goal has always been to be a college professor. Have to admit, it’s kind of an ego-boost, which I’ve needed.

But I’m also nervous. Teaching college kids?! Yes, I taught high school seniors, so basically the same age group, but it’s a whole new level. If it’s freshman comp class, so basically all writing, so LOTS of grading. The department outlines how many grades and how many things the students have to write, but we get to decide how we go about it. Both exciting and nerve wracking. I haven’t had to plan a whole semester’s worth of material, especially not ALL writing, but it will be fun to make up activities. No, I’m not going to do busy work because it’s college, but having straight writing gets boring at any level, so need to mix it up.

But mostly, I’m so excited about this amazing opportunity. Yes I know it will be a lot of work, especially at the beginning, but I’m ready to be doing something productive again. I’m not the smartest person ever, but I do have smarts and not using them for the last year has made me feel, literally, stupid. I’m ready to feel challenged again. I’m ready to feel needed and have students looking to me for answers or at least a grade.

Ready for this new adventure to start.

Still lots of details need to be worked out, such as which classes I’ll take, which ones I’ll teach. Where my office will be. 😉

And I will be sure to fill you in on all the fun details as I get them. Especially how work takes it when I tell them I’m quitting.

 

 

 

(Also, unrelated, any of you with WordPress blogs that are not paid for, need your help adding Google Analytics. I’m usually good with this stuff, but I can’t figure out where to paste it. Yes I’ve looked it up, but nothing is helping. And college kids are smart and I want to know if anyone from here is reading the blog…)

Told Ya

I told you I would be back to my chipper self in no time.

Not everything is fixed or better, but I can’t obsess over them or things will just get worse. I did it when I had to go to school at home for a year and I added more pounds than I’ll admit on the internet and all self esteem went out the window.

Must. Stay. Positive.

So, on that note, I give you some things that make me so ridiculously happy. Probably more than they should, but whatever.

1. GLEE. I know you already know this. I LOVE GLEE. So wonderful. No, not all the acting is great and some episodes are better than others, but being a huge theater fan and the fact that I love swing choir (my high school version of GLEE club minus the competing), GLEE is wonderful. I love the music and the dancing and the bizarre plot lines. I was so happy tonight with the premier. Mr. A even watched with me and it was wonderful. He even ordered the entire 1st season for me. (He had an Amazon gift card AND it was on sale, NEW, on Amazon tonight. He’s super.)

2. Duoly Noted’s bruschetta. People. You don’t understand how truly fantastic this is. I also made her linguine with clam sauce and it was also amazing, but the bruschetta. I almost wished my husband wasn’t eating so I could have had it all to myself. I learned I loved bruschetta in Chicago at one of the famous pizza places. I’ve tried to make it myself and it would turn out okay, but nothing great. Tonight it was mouthwatering and better than the restaurant. No exaggeration. Husband thought the same. Probably going to have an entire meal of it next week. And I don’t like tomatoes. So if you don’t like tomatoes either, try this recipe. It will change your life.

3. Puppies. I already wrote a ridiculously long post about this, so I’ll leave it at that.

4. Wine. We went to a wine festival here a couple weekends ago and we found some local wines that we LOVE. We bought a couple bottles and I could drink them all by myself. I love white wine that isn’t too dry. We found a Vignoles that is so yummy with just about any meal you put in front of me.

5. Hunger Games. I know I’m late to this party and pretty much all of you have already read the entire series, but it is so good! I’m about 90 pages in and I’m hooked. I would have spent all night reading if it hadn’t been the premiere of GLEE and then Biggest Loser. I can’t wait to read all of them and I hope Catching Fire and Mockingjay are just as involving. **Sidenote: I am DREADING when the games start because I’ve already fallen in love with Peeta and how the heck am I supposed to cheer for Katniss to kill him?? I must read more tonight.

6. Bubble Baths. I love them. More than an adult should love a bubble bath. a couple times a week I take one and read whatever book I’m on at the time. I usually have to re-warm the water because I’m in there long enough for the water to cool. In This Wonderful Life is hosting a “Keep Calm and…” giveaway. I was looking at the possible prints and they have a “Keep Calm and Soak On” print with a bathtub on it. I’m so hoping I win so I can get it. It will fit in our bathroom so well and it fits me perfectly! Probably going to go take a bubble bath and read as soon as I finish this.

7. Jillian Michaels. Not really. I really more hate her. And her perfect abs. And the other girls’ perfect legs. I want to watch other out of shape people struggle through the workout like I do, not girls who wish the video would end so they can get to their real workouts. BUT I can tell it’s doing something. Actually, it worked SO well yesterday, that I couldn’t hardly walk today. Or move. Or bend. Or breathe. I found 3 positions that were comfortable and didn’t make me want to cut off my legs. It goes without saying that I couldn’t do the workout today, but I have every intention of doing it tomorrow. Even if I can’t do everything or all the reps, I WILL workout again tomorrow. Jillian knows what she’s doing and I love that. I might have a chance to lose the weight I want. If I can eat better, smaller portions, and keep with this workout, I hope I can get there.

8. That my husband doesn’t freak out when I tell him I chose the wrong career path. He even TRULY thinks I should go back to school now and we’ll live off loans. All to make me happy and get the career I want. He’s a doll sometimes. This will be it’s own blog post, but it’s good to know that he will support me should I choose that path because my parents might try to commit me. Not even kidding.

9. Blogging. All of you who read and comment and give advice and encouragement and tell me you’ve been there and it will get better. I love the blogs and I love Twitter for connecting me to bloggers. We tweet about shows and celebrities. We ask questions. Vent about whatever is going on. Tell funny stories. Share pictures that are in the moment. I love this community I have found. YOU have helped me in more ways that you probably know. You’ve gotten me through this very difficult and stressful time with your humor and sarcasm and dry senses of humor. Snarky blogs? One of my favorites. Thanks for sticking with me and keep the comments coming. They make my day.

10. I’m doing this for Life of a Doctor’s Wife. She has to end lists at 10. Figure if I keep her OCD calm, she’ll keep reading.

Remember?

Remember those ridiculous tests that I kept whining and complaining about?

Remember how I was the worst writer on the planet because all I could do was fret over my 12 hours of testing?

Got the scores.

I EFFING PASSED!! BOTH OF THEM!!!

They were the hardest tests I have ever taken and I passed. First try. Holy crap.

Fiance is taking me out for a date night to celebrate.

Thanks for all the well wishes and good luck when I took them because it paid off!

New Teacher. New Wife.

So many new and wonderful things

I don’t even know where to start.

I guess I’ll start with how wonderful yesterday (Sunday) was.

4 year anniversary and 23rd birthday were this past weekend, and we had a lot going on. So, yesterday we intended on going to the gym and working on school stuff. Well, that never happened. Instead, we spent ALL day cuddling on the couch, glued to Rescue Me via our Netflix ondemand. (If you have an XBox360 or a Wii, and a Netfliz account, you can get your on demand videos to play through the consoles on your tv, instead of just through your computer. We get every penny out of the Netflix because of this. They have almost any season of any big show on there. Check it out if you haven’t. This will also probably be our source of entertainment during law school because we probably won’t pay for cable.)

Fiance and I have both been stressed out lately and a little testy with each other, so it was a perfect time for us to relax together and just have some good quality time. The only interruptions were to get a snack or a restroom break. It was glorious. We intend on having many more of these days int he next few years. We’re lame, we know.

Also, if you have been reading, my long-term sub position ends on Wednesday. While I will miss knowing what exactly I’m doing for money each day and I’ll miss a lot of the kids (and the steady paycheck), it is nice to know that a break is only TWO days away!!! This job would be easier if it had been my classroom and I started with it from the beginning, but it took the students a month before they figured out I wasn’t leaving the next day and that the assignments and tests I gave, actually counted towards their grade. Who would ever have thought?? 13 years olds……

Since fiance’s spring break was this past week and I still had to slave away, we will be headed to my hometown (in a different state than where I went to school and still live and a MUCH bigger city….so many restaurant options…my diet will be slipping away I believe). We are leaving Thursday and coming back Monday morning so fiance can get to his afternoon class. I am so excited. My own little break. No grading. No preparing anything. No worries and NO WAKING UP EARLY!!! It’s all about the little things in life….

While home, we will be doing family birthday stuff since I couldn’t go home the past weekend. My brother, who is seven years older, has a birthday TWO days before mine. So we always do joint family birthdays. I always felt jipped, until he told me that he got 7 whole years before I showed up, so he really felt the got the short end of the stick. Oh well.

Also, going to the GREATEST zoo on earth. I’ll save the engagement story for another post, but fiance proposed at this zoo because it is our absolute favorite place to go. No, I’m not from C a l i f o r n i a. That zoo costs too much. Ours is free. Why should you pay $40 a person for a zoo?? Doesn’t make sense.

When baseball season starts, you will probably find out where I’m from because I won’t be able to hide my hatred for baby bears and my favorite color becomes red for 6 months…… 🙂

So, lots of good things going on right now. This next month holds in store:

2 bridal showers

Bachelorette party (which I know NOTHING of what we are doing….could be interesting)

Run through for wedding hair and makeup (Why this excites me I have no idea)

Licensing test for the state we will be moving to (They won’t take my PRAXIS scores, so I must spend ANOTHER full day testing to prove I can teach. Despite being in school for 4.5 years and graduating with honors.) Not exciting, but VERY important so I can, you know, get a JOB.

Another person’s wedding

I can’t wait.

I AM working on pictures. New camera and I are still adjusting. I promise to take lots and lots this weekend and post them. I love pictures, so I promise this blog will get more entertaining. Hopefully.

I DO have a question though, for the 4 people that read this. We are having a judge officiate the wedding (family friend- we thought better to have someone close than a pastor we didn’t know). BUT, I have to figure out the order of the ceremony and how things will go. The last wedding I went to was when I was 16. I’m lost on this front. Anyone give me a website or someone give me a general layout? I have NO idea how this part should go. Thanks blogging world.

Pictures to come. Two more days at school, then my own little spring break.

We also booked our honeymoon this week. A week in MEXICO on an all inclusive resort. Oh, I am counting the days. So I leave you with a picture of what I will get to look at for a week in June.

Have a good Monday!

New Teacher. New Wife.