Day One is in the Books

Wow!  Today went by so fast!  What is really nice about team teaching is that halfway through the day, you get to get rid of those kids, get some new ones, and repeat the lesson you already have taught.  It makes the end of the day so nice!  Although, if today was any indication, that probably is going to have some behavior issues.

I wanted to document some differences and similarities I noticed between teaching at a Title 1 school and teaching in Lantana.

Although I expected all students to come with all of their supplies, a few of them were without.

Several parents picked up items on my wish list, and the students brought them today.  Yay!

What really struck me as a big differences was not so much between Title and nonTitle but really the layout of the school.  Or I guess maybe where I am positioned.  The cafeteria is like a few seconds from my room.  Special areas are just around the corner for the most part.  When students are finished at lunch, they can go directly outside to the playground which is right by our room.  At my last school, I had to walk all the way upstairs to get to the cafeteria and walk way out to the playground after lunch.  It was ridiculous.

Dismissal was a little crazy in the hallway, but we don't dismiss from our rooms until the end of school bell rings.

I can't think of any other differences right now.  My feet hurt the same at Title 1 or not.


I somehow managed to ruin the sauce for dinner tonight.  Oh well, it is pasta and cheese!  It can't be that bad.

We made it, day one, teachers!

Back in the kitchen again

Good Sunday Morning!
Hubby is at the gym, and I figured I could get a blog in before we headed to church.  This week has been a whirlwind of inservice.  I even went up to school Saturday to wrap my head around what is going on.  We will say that is my one Saturday for the school year.  School starts tomorrow, and I am excited to get back in the groove.  For the most part, I really do love teaching.  I am hoping that I will be able to form good relationships with people at my new school that will make going to work super fun.

I am not going to be too ambitious here or anything, but I have got to start meal planning again.  I have been so lazy this summer.  Nothing sounded good, so it was hard to cook anything.  Before the end of the school year last year, we were packing and moving, so I wasn't cooking then.  So, I am going to try three meals this week.  With leftovers, that should be plenty.

Monday:

SKINNY FETTUCCINE ALFREDO WITH SPINACH 
YIELD: 4-6 SERVINGS INGREDIENTS: 13.25 oz whole wheat linguine, 1 package, you could use any other pasta of your liking 1 cup cottage cheese, or low fat cream cheese, I did this once and it works well 1/2 cup Greek yogurt, plain, I used 2% fat 3/4 cup unsweetened soy milk 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated 2-3 tablespoons blue cheese, I used crumbled blue cheese 1/4 cup Manchego cheese, cubed 8 oz frozen chopped spinach, thawed out and drained 2-3 garlic cloves 1 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon cornstarch, to prevent curdling Pepper flakes, optional DIRECTIONS: Add all the ingredients, except the pasta of course and the spinach, to your food processor and process until smooth. Pour sauce in a non stick pan and add the chopped spinach. Over a low to medium heat, heat the sauce through for a minute or so before adding the pasta. Add the pasta to the sauce and heat until sauce starts to thicken and adhere to pasta, about 3-5 minutes. Add pepper flakes if using and serve.
Read more at http://www.eatgood4life.com/2012/02/skinny-fettuccine-alfredo-with-spinach.html#4PgzrgMwh6iOc1wL.99
This looks super easy and super yummy.  She has a really pretty picture on her website, too.  I will probably not use all the fancy cheese and will add some shredded chicken.

Wednesday:
Hamburger Steak with Onion and Gravy

I have done something similar to this before called Salisbury Steak.  The picture on the website is with corn and mashed potatoes, and that looks really good!

Friday: BBQ Pulled Chicken

This is one of my recipes I got from my sister.  Super easy.


So, if I was a productive girl, today I could...
1.) make the alfredo sauce, bag it, refrigerate it
2.) make and brown the steak patties
3.) cook and shred the chicken (it's crockpot) and put in the freezer

Doing those steps would make for a much less messy kitchen during the week when I have absolutely no motivation to clean.

Hollar!  Now to make a grocery list...

Have a great week,

College is so expensive!

Baby Mama Drama Update: Symptoms seem to be decreasing.  Thankful for all of the sweet words of encouragement.  I have been taking it super easy.


It's that time!  Students are headed back to school.  Some of my girls that I mentored at church are headed to college.  What an exciting time!  College was one of my favorite memories.  I loved going and playing ultimate frisbee late Thursday nights.  I was somewhat hardcore--I even had cleats!  I loved living in the dorms.  I made and solidified some really great friendships.

Classes didn't exactly make the top memory list, but the expense of college can definitely make a dent that is hard to erase.  Even though colleges and things associated with college seem to be rising in price, there seems to be some good programs out there to alleviate some of the money stress.

One such program is RentBack.  Rentback is a new initiative that allows students to rent the textbooks they ALREADY OWN to other students.  This is awesome because you can make 2 to 4x more money compared to what you would make through buyback options.  I know I always felt gipped when I sold my books back at the end of the semester, especially if I hadn't cracked the book once!

Another program, Campus Book Rentals, lets students rent textbooks.  Here are some perks:
*save 40-90% off of bookstore prices
*free shipping both ways
*you can HIGHLIGHT in the textbooks
*flexible renting periods
*this company donates to Operation Smile with each textbook rented

If college fees have you bogged down, check out these great alternatives.

Happy School Year,

Monster Lovin'

So, at the beginning of the summer, we thought it would be a brilliant plan to add to our family.  So, we drove way out to the middle of nowhere to pick up this little jewel. 

Her name is Gentry--after the Ranger's outfielder.

I had NO idea how much work a puppy was.  I now understand why my dad never let us get a dog.  We had chickens, and turkeys, and ducks when we were younger.  No poop to clean up, super cute when they are little, and stay outside.  Plus, they grow up super fast.

Currently, she is mostly potty trained.  She is working on not jumping.  Most of her razor sharp teeth have fallen out, thank goodness.  She still enjoys chewing on anything she can get her hands on.  At any given time, there is scraps of whatever she is chewing all over the house.  Lately, she has been super cuddling, which makes me not contemplate getting rid of her all the time. 

Zoey, Anthony's dog from when he was younger, comes over and plays with Gentry from time to time.  Mostly Gentry just nips at her, but Zoey is a good sport.

Not a fan of baths, but she is so cute when she is wet.

Her first photo op.

I snagged this picture at a concert last week.  She looks so dignified.  Julie, my MIL, worked with her a lot while we were gone to Cancun. 

I couldn't help it.  She didn't hate it as much as I thought she would.

The day my pregnancy got scary

I started at my new school last week Thursday and was planning on a similar day of inservice on Friday.  I woke up Friday morning with more than just the dread of going back to school.  Something was seriously wrong with my body and potentially my baby.  (I am not going to go into great detail about it because some people feel the need to give their opinion on everything, and I am not looking for your medical opinion derived from my blog post.)

Thankfully, Anthony had not left for work yet, so he was able to be with me the whole day.  We went right to the doctor, who met us about 1.5 before opening.  She performed a sonogram to figure out if the baby was still alive.  Honestly at this point, I had been preparing myself for the worst and had even imagined how to tell people that I had miscarried.  Amazing, our baby was moving all around and had a strong heartbeat.  What a relief!

She sent us off to get a more detailed sonogram.  It was scheduled for later that afternoon.  I rested most of the day.  I wasn't able to watch the sonogram being performed, but Anthony said it was really neat to watch the technician zoom in on the heart and see it beating, measure the femur, and see its arms moving.  We left.  An hour or so later the doctor called and said that the radiologist could not find anything wrong with the sonogram or any indication of anything that could be causing my symptoms.  At first I was really excited, but then I realized that just because they couldn't find anything doesn't mean that everything was ok.  My symptoms were telling me otherwise.

I was an emotional wreck Friday night, but thankfully the Lord granted me sleep, and I was not up all night dwelling on what could be.  My mom came up on Saturday and just sat with me.  Sometimes you just need your momma.  I had a friend come over and sit in bed with me, and I have numerous people praying for me and baby Houston.  My new team at school, who didn't even know I was pregnant, before the incident have been amazing.

I am anxious about returning to school tomorrow.  (Don't worry, I will be sitting in a chair all day for inservice.)  Not knowing about something, especially the well-being and future of your baby, is a tough pill that I have to continue to swallow.  Thankfully, God has a plan for my baby and me.  Thankfully, He has surrounded me with believers who remind me that God is faithful.

I am looking for some verses of Scripture to put on notecards as I had back to work.  I do not want this pregnancy to be about me.  It needs to be about God and His glory, regardless of the outcome.  It needs to be about how I am desperately trying to cling to Him in my most fearful moments.

Will you pray for me and my baby?  Will you share some verses of comfort or song lyrics\ hymns that I can take with me this week?

Yummy Goodness Comfort Food

I used this recipe for two different family functions this summer.  It seemed to be a big hit, and it is so easy to make.  Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures unless you want me to take a snapshot of the little bit of leftovers that are still in the fridge and should probably be in the trash.

Ingredients:
32 oz. frozen hash browns
8 oz. cubed ham or bacon
2 cans cream of chicken soup
16 oz. sour cream
2 C. shredded cheese
1.5 C shredded parmesan cheese

Mix everything together except the parm. cheese.  Put in lightly greased 9x11 pan.  Sprinkle parm. cheese on top.  Bake on 375 for 1 hour.

We used it as a side for a BBQ, but my family has also had it with breakfast before.
Enjoy!

I am sew cool!

A while back I got a perfect sewing machine at an estate sale for $10.  BAM!  I had taken a sewing class in college for fashion design, and I had really enjoyed.  Plus, how was I going to make all my cute DIY projects on Pinterest without a sewing machine.  My mom sewed a lot while I was growing up.  I remember her making us doll clothes, curtains, matching Easter outfits, and even a few formal dresses.  I so regret not taking her up on her knowledge and skills and being interested in sewing.  She could have taught me so much.  Thankfully, her and my father, who has become quite the tailor and reupholsterer, are close by when my machine starts making weird noises or something gets stuck.

I was way bored a few weeks ago and decided to make a reusable grocery bag.  I had picked up some material for cheap at a garage sale earlier this summer, and I found a pattern at About.com.  It had directions for piping.  I neither had it or knew how to put that in, so I opted out.  The pattern also requested denim or heavy material, which I would def recommend it you have it on hand, but mine turned out ok. 

Obviously, I am a beginner...

but I did see some improvement, which is encouraging.

Ta-da!  Grocery store ready!

Baby Mama Drama

So...

To add to buying a house, getting a dog, Anthony getting a promotion, me switching schools, we are going to have a baby.  Eek!

Already wearing maternity pants and shorts.  I don't have a noticeable baby bump, but I am definitely expanding. 

My BFF sent me and hubby some goodies.  Hubs loved them.  If you can't read the note, it says for a boy or a girl, so we will be ready for baseball season.

And since we don't have a baby to dress up yet, I had to dress up my furbaby.  She is so cute!