Toast to March

I've decided to start a new blogging tradition. At the end of every month, I'm going to toast to the small things that didn't necessarily need their own blog post, but deserve to at least be mentioned.I'm gonna toast to the little, insignificant things, because I can. 

Here’s to actually having a winter.. not in winter. I want summer.

Here’s to fishing days with my dad… even if we did not catch a single dad-gum fish. It’s the experience, right?

Here’s to becoming a tennis pro…. Eh, decent tennis player again.

Also, here’s to cardio due to being decent at tennis again.

Here’s to my first tan line of the year. (this was pre winter hitting)

Here’s to the baby blonde sister being out of her teenage years. Welcome to the terrrrific twenties!

Here’s to not having a flexible work schedule. I really wanted to accept that eye lash model/free lash extensions offer… my students don’t need me three days before STAAR.

Here’s to chapstick with spf and making my lips look like whales. (yes, I have an spf allergy).

Here's to Sunday Fundays.

Bring on April.

Supercalifragilisticexpealidocious

I took mom to Mary Poppins on Saturday night. Ahhhhmazing!! Seriously, my heart was so happy and filled with music for the remainder of the night. 

 

I was mostly impressed with the kids, Jane and Michael. I just kept watching them and thinking, "Wow. That is not what I was doing with my life when I was eight years old." They were perfect.. knew every dance step and every line and had perfect reactions and perfect timing!! 

Supercalifragilisticexpealidocious was definitely the most taxing song of the evening. The dance moves combined with the increased speed as the song goes along had me mesmerized! 

Then "Step in Time" was also incredible. The props with the brooms were used exquisitely and Bert has an amazing part (I do not want to ruin it for anyone that is going to see it).... but it had my jaw open, for sure! 

If you ever have a chance to go and see it, add it to your list of must-dos! 

March Madness/Craziness/Lose your voice from yellingness

I never yell at the tv so much as I do during March Madness. Why can't these college kids do exactly what I plan for them to do?? First off, Baylor did not make it to the tourney this year, so what do they do? They lay an absolute beating on the first team they face in the NIT tournament (112-66). If they do not make it to Madison Square Garden, I will consider the season a bust.

Back to the madness, here is my bracket for the year.

I am a big 12 person to death. Good news? I still have all my final four. There have been years where having that philosophy has royally destroyed me. Bad news? I am already in 8^th place this year. 8^th place?? I’ve never been in 8^th place in my entire life!!! I will take responsibility for picking Blemont over Arizona… but seriously, Harvard?? Is there anyone who actually picked Harvard to win? No way, not feasible. No one goes to Harvard to play sports, way to choke New Mexico… that’s embarrassing. Thanks Oklahoma State, I had you going to the sweet 16.  Good thing it’s early, I’m gonna count on my other “teams” to pull me through this early madness drought.

Hooray for the next 2 weeks where my students work on very important, meaningful, vital activities while I watch game tracker on my computer. Teacher of the year right here, folks.

Here’s to the madness.   

Man BFF

My man BFF and I talk about everything... That's how he got the title man BFF to begin with. So recently I was asking Man BFF what I should wear to an event with Duck Dude. (Yes, this is a guy I've recently been seeing, I realize this is the first time he's been mentioned.. But he's not really the point of this story..more to come on that eventually..)

So it's the first time I'll be meeting Duck Dude's fellow duck people, so I asked the man BFF for some fashion advice - "What do I wear to this event??" Cowboy boots will be worn on my feet, but that's as far as I'd gotten outfit wise. For those of you not aware of my shoe obsession, I have black, brown, short brown, and turquoise boots... So really I had nothing narrowed down except to 4 pairs of shoes... and I'm not totally against the idea of going to buy a brand new pair of boots! And I'm gonna guess it's not socially acceptable to show up naked, because that was my next idea. After thinking for a little while, I brought up wearing white jeans for a nice, crisp look and my man BFF responded with this:

I love him for trying. I, somewhat politely, informed him it was Easter, not Memorial Day... And he huffily reminded me he was a man. Touché. 

I also told him not too many people follow that rule anymore (granted, I was totally a die hard one of them in high school). This led into an entirely different conversation about what "hott girls" can wear and what "hott girls" cannot wear. My point was, won't hott girls look good in anything... because they're "hott"! It was definitely a great conversation, and I love my Man BFF for it!

Guess I'll have to go to the sisters for advice on this one.

My Warby Parkers

My Warby Parkers.

This is a new style of eyeglasses that are taking the world by storm. Ok, I do not know if that’s necessarily the case… but I think they’re pretty cool. It’s like the whole TOMS, People Water, I pay for something I need want and I get to also feel like I’m giving back to people.  

www.warbyparker.com

They are “eyewear with a purpose.” (I love purpose)

“Almost one billion people worldwide lack access to glasses. This means that 15% of the global population cannot effectively learn or work - a problem that Warby Parker is determined to address. We've partnered with non-profits like VisionSpring to ensure that for every pair of glasses sold, a pair is distributed to someone in need. We believe that everyone has the right to see.”

So here are my brand new pair of Warby Parkers. They are the “Japhy” style in “tortoise.” I plan on wearing my glasses a lot more now for 3 reasons:

1. They’re the correct prescription. My eyes have changed a lot since I was 15 and it will be nice to be able to see clearly out of my glasses.

2. I can wear them with brown or black, thanks to the tortoise coloring. I’ve eased up on my whole “black and brown make a frown” thing; actually I kinda love pairing black with brown/camel/pumpkin now, so my glasses can be a part of this.

3. I kinda am obsessed with them. I’m not sure if that has enough quality to be a reason… but I just made it one.

I think they are the perfect style for all of my styles. I plan on wearing them with jeans, skirts, oxfords, combat boots, sperrys, denim, florals, stripes, everything. 

Outfit Happiness

I took the week off from blogging throughout Spring Break, but no worries to my four whole readers, I am back and I'll do my best to make up for it this week. Carrying on...

Whoever said what you're wearing cannot make you happy, obviously hated clothes... and shoes... and accessories. I feel amazing in a good outfit; whether someone tells me or not. I feel confident and that's what matters. Cue awesome new shoes: 

Oxfords, Michael Kors, Bubble Necklace. My heart was full of joy. 

Spring Break 2013

Although I normally go somewhere for Spring Break, I am mighty excited to just stay here this year. I need a week where I can just hang out and relax without anything to do on my schedule. I am definitely using it as a “break” this year, but that doesn’t mean I do not have a few things planned!

Spring Break Plans:

1. Mawmaw’s 80^th Bday party. This is number 1 on my list and I’m super excited about it. She even put her invitation on the senior citizen center’s bulletin board. You cannot tell me that won’t be an excellent party.

2. Mindi and Aaron’s Gender Reveal Party. I think I’m team purple. I do not know whether I want them to have a boy or a girl, but I cannot wait to find out!! Then I can start buying clothes for the little one!

3. Layout. My skin needs some color and there is nothing more relaxing than some time by the pool. Weather – please cooperate.

4. Eye Doctor Appt. The only reason this is on my list is because I am going so I can get new glasses. I have had the same glasses since I was a sophomore in high school and they are not even my correct prescription anymore. I have my new glasses picked out and I want them really badly. (There will be a post eventually on them)

5. College Roommate time. Kind of a staycation. We want to try new restaurants and find new places we haven’t been to before. Adventures within our own town should be fun; and we always have a good time together.

6. St. Patty’s Day parade. Greenville Avenue. I’ve never been to the parade but it sounds like a marvelous time and I couldn’t be more excited to be going with the people I am going with! It’s an entire day devoted to wearing my favorite color… can’t get much better than that!

Hello Spring Break. 

Brainwashing

Let’s be honest. My goal for teaching is not to be a role model or intrinsically motivate students to investigate mathematics outside of the classroom; no, my goal for teaching is to brainwash my students to be future Baylor Bears.

Brainwashing definition: any method of controlled systematic indoctrination, especially one based on repetition or confusion:

I'm gonna guess playing the Baylor Fight Song every Friday constitutes repetition?

This is a text convo between me and a former student who is now across the street at the high school. Her entire family is from Kansas and are huge Kansas State fans. They were headed to the Baylor/Kansas State men’s basketball game.

Changing lives. One bear at a time. 

Remote Control

I heard an interesting comment the other day. Especially in middle school, we talk a lot about making good decisions, or even just thinking about the decision before we make it. If I could get my students to do this, I swear I could alleviate half of our discipline issues.

The phrase I heard was, “Who is holding your remote control?” Are you letting someone else have control of you or do you have control of your own remote?

I really think this is an excellent analogy for my middle school students. However, as I continued to think about it, I decided to apply it one step further for my life.

In my family, having the remote is a large responsibility. You are responsible for muting the commercials and paying close enough attention to unmute the commercials when the show is back on. If you do not do a respected enough job, you get the remote control taken away from you. I hate having the remote taken away from me. I am stubborn enough to think that no one can do as good a job as I can. So that got me thinking:

Am I letting God have control of my remote? Or am I fighting him over who is controlling my life? Am I stubborn enough to think that I can do a better job than God?

Obviously, I do not think that, but am I making conscious decisions in my everyday life to relinquish my control to God. I’ve heard that general idea 1,284 times in my life, but I’ve never heard it phrased that way.

Who has control of your remote?