Toast to April

Here we are again. Time to acknowledge the small things that happened during the most recent 30 days. Things that maybe didn't need a full blog, but deserve to be archived forever on the webs that are world wide. 

Here’s to cheering on the Mavs with complete strangers! There’s nothing better than a buzzer beater in a crowded restaurant! We plan on doing it again tonight! Go Mavs!

Here’s to hangin out with the refrigerator repair man. We’re basically best friends now although I hope I don’t see him again anytime soon.

Here’s to Duck Dude having pretty pink flowers blooming in his yard! And beside his mailbox. I love them.

Here’s to being done with sports for the school year. I’ve probably already mentioned this, but I am that excited.

Here’s to this literally perfect picture of my best childhood friends! We were a crew to be reckoned with. And now we’re all growed up and now 3/5 of the crew is married.

Once again, here’s to the Pinterest project that has been on my kitchen table since November. But y’all, it’s really almost finished. And I promise to show you once it is. Just think of it like a 6 month tease! :)

Here’s to having one of the most talked about Easter pictures probably ever.

Here’s to plastic surgery. The subtle kind, not the Heidi Montag kind. (And no, I didn’t have anything done, it just deserved to be in here)

Here’s to babysitting this sweet thing for the next week! We’re going to have so much fun!!

See you tomorrow May. 

15,000 Excuses

Y'all. I earned my first 15,000 step badge yesterday on fitbit and I wasn't even trying. We started a project and I did a lot of walking during school, and then I worked out. Boom. 15,000 steps. 

And now, I am ready to quit while I am on top. :)
My feet seriously hurt today. I wore heels for an observation and just walked down to the coaches office to change into my flats. I couldn't do it. 
So today, I bring you excuses from my athletes. I'm going to attempt to use these on my workout partner and see if she accepts them!

• I just randomly tripped over nothing and now my wrist hurts a little bit. Can I sit out?
• I have acid reflux and I ate lunch 2 hours ago, but now that we're running and not playing volleyball, I feel like I am going to throw up.
• The last time I ran bleachers I got a huge knot on my leg, and I now I have a phobia of all things metal. 
• I forgot my tennis shoes and only have my cleats, so I can only do soccer practice and not conditioning.  (to be fair I actually did forget my sports bra the other day)
• My ankle, that I broke in October, is all of a sudden flaring up. 
• I don't have anything today. See also: all of my stuff is in my locker, but I don't want to work out so I'll just lose my points instead 
• I can't even.... 

I am not actually going to write 15,000 excuses.. but believe me, I could. I guess I'm gonna go find some inspiring stuff on Pinterest. 

Countdown to...

It's Monday morning and I have zero pictures to recap anything from this weekend. Because I did a lot of watching Divergent, watching the Mavs win at the Buzzer, reading on the couch, and watching the Rangers. 
So today, we are going to countdown to some things. Some big things, some small things. But everything becomes a lot more exciting when you count down to it. 
110 days until BvB Dallas! We are planning on raising $400,000 this summer! Check out the website if your new around here! It's the best charity organization around!

www.bvbdallas.org

103 days until my Bae (first time I've used that word on here) gets hitched. In Austin. And it will be a glorious weekend! 

86 days until we are bachelorette party-ing it up in Port Aransas for said Bae's final fling before the ring. We plan on being beach bums for the entire weekend!

We'll party like that one time we were on Randy Rogers Tour bus
#namedrop

76 days until we are headed to Punta Punta! I have a lot of shopping to do, but my biggest concern as of late is what nail polish color I will wear for the vacay. #firstworldpains, I know.
                                          {insert picture of Mollie's hot bod in May here}
60 days until I'm on a jet plane bound for NYC. Last time we went was sooo much fun. I cannot wait for 60 days to get here!

Also 60 days until it's officially summer and I'm done with summer school! Sidenote: I teach enrichment summer school aka the kids who pay to come. 
39 days until school is out for summer!! And I will be jumping for joy. Because I can do this all day, every. single. day.

5 days until I am playing in a sand volleyball tournament. It's been a while since I played in a tournament of any kind. I'm excited to get some sun and hit some volleyballs. 

Just kidding, I'm not wearing that.

4 days until I take a personal business day to lay out. The forecast is 82 degrees with zero clouds in the sky and a book in my hand.

  I love countdowns. What are you counting down for? 

The Boy is Mine

I told a super old story last night at dinner with a friend. As I was telling it, I deemed it good enough to be blog material… because there are some things you just can’t make up. It goes like this:

I was pretty cool in elementary school. I hung out with the popular kids, we had a seats in the back of the class, and I had a boyfriend.

His name was Scott Wallet and he went on to go to Julliard and now he’s married. I hope he’s not reading. So, our “group” was made up of three couples: Emily and Patrick, and Nikki and Derek, and Scott and me. We, obviously, knew we were the it thing, so in art class during the pottery section we etched the same thing on the bottom of our little pots.

                                                M – Mollie

                                                E – Emily

                                                N – Nikki

We were the “men.” Nothing like a little shot to our 10 year old boyfriends’ ego. They did perform Backstreets Boys “As long as you love me” to us in the talent show, and it was glorious.

Anyway, so apparently I missed the memo when I moved in that a girl had already claimed Scott Wallet.

My 5^th grade self didn’t care. I let her be on the same soccer team as him during recess. She didn’t realize I would guard him and get to be by him the entire time. She wasn’t in our home room, so she didn’t get to sit beside him in the back of the class. She wasn’t in our group, so she didn’t get the invite to hang out on weekends.

She did, however, get the invite to a mutual friend’s birthday party. What happened next?

We threw down an epic, pitch perfect style karaoke battle to “The Boy is Mine.”

I wish there was Instagram to capture it.

And then in middle school we became best friends, and I was the maid of honor in her wedding. True Story. Happy Friday friends. 

Divergent vs HG

 

Oh yes. I am going there. I will begin by saying.. I love Hunger Games. I never thought I'd find a trilogy I loved more.... until I finished Divergent in 2 days. 
Main Character - Tris vs Katniss Katniss - Hunger Games focuses on Katniss' external struggle to defend her life against 23 other individuals. Katniss knows who she is. She is District 12 through and through. She is a strong, dominant female lead at the expense of a "weaker" male lead. Let's be honest, we all knew she would win the Hunger Games; there couldn't be two more books without her!
Tris - Divergent focuses on Tris' internal struggle. Tris has no idea who she is. She is torn between several factions and being labeled divergent. She has no clue what is coming next once she joins the Dauntless. She's trying to find her self, her self within her new faction, and trying to discover what it means to be divergent. She is a strong, dominant female lead alongside of a male lead. 
Point Divergent.
Male Lead - Four vs Peeta Peeta - Peeta is the (physically) weaker of the love story. While he is mentally stronger, Katniss spends a lot of time saving Peeta. 
Four - Four is a leader and he is in charge. He's also physically capable of holding his own while mentally only having four fears to conquer. 
Point Divergent. 
Government Overthrow HG - If you've read Mockingjay, you know how everything turns out. In the spirit of not spoiling it for everyone who is waiting for the movie - I hated Mockingjay and thought Hunger Games was the best book out of the trilogy. 
Divergent - We see the beginning of the overthrow in the first book! That means there's still two more books/movies to go!! There's no waiting game, they're getting this revolution started! I, as a reader/watcher, appreciate it.
What do you think? Are you Divergent? or Are you from District 12?

Candy Apple Delight

I've been stuck in a gym for five hours with 130 kids. I love testing days. But here it is. My tease from yesterday. The best recipe in the entire planet. And quite possibly the easiest. 
4 things. Mix them all together. And it includes a Snicker's bar. Yumm. 

And I now know what to get Duck Dude for Christmas. An apple peeler contraption. He thought it was the coolest thing ever. (Act surprised sweetheart, I know you're reading.)

As always, let me know when you try it and what adjustments you make! :)

Monday-ing It Up

I did not quite make it to class on Friday, but it’s only because my [real] classes were outside hunting math filled Easter eggs all day! It was glorious and a beautiful day, and the blonde sister came to see me!

My school husband officially gave me a ring in front of all the kids…. And no one paid attention. But I wore my paperclip ring all day long.

We had a staff vs. staff basketball game after school which involved a gorgeous sign and my tutu. My team won and I was ready to start my weekend! 

It started with going to Hook, Line, and Sinker in Dallas and eating some wonderful fried shrimp. That’s right, I said fried. I got French fries too… might as well go all out! And I dipped everything in tons of tartar (pronounced tar-tar for my blonde) sauce and loved every second.

We especially loved the “I’m super cool, so look at me” guy who went the wrong way on the street in front of us, parked in the wrong parking lot, and walked over to the restaurant. However, the joke was definitely on him, because less than 3 minutes his precious car was towed out of that wrong parking lot and he took off sprinting after it.

Then Easter and eggs and family and pictures happened. It was all glorious and I wanted to stay another day and play.

But here I am! Monday-ing it up. And all I really want to do is keep reading Divergent, because it’s that good.

Come back tomorrow for a wonderful recipe that involves Snickers. So it has to be good. 

I Never Thought I'd...

Today I'm doing an unexpected link up. I thought about this link up all day yesterday throughout teaching and different spins I could take. I'm going to take it in a completely different direction and I hope Juliette doesn't hate me for it.

When something weighs on you, you try and decide if you're going to put it on the blog. Then, when you come to the conclusion that's why you have a blog, you write. So, today, I'm writing.

I never thought I'd invest so much of me in them.

Who's them? My students.

I found out this week one of my students attempted to hang themself. When my student was found, they were not breathing, but their heart was still beating. The family has been with my student in ICU for 5 days, and they have just moved to a normal room.

I never thought my heart would literally break for them.

The despair my student must have been feeling to consider that their only option. The 12 year old mind does not think about the long term.

I never thought I'd actually be writing about this.

If you could only see the bundles of life I teach every day. I didn't say they're not hormonal, clumsy bundles, but full of life and selfies, they are!

I never thought I'd despise the media so much.

These hormonal bundles of life are easily persuaded. They don't know their place in the world, and they are searching to find it. Media informs them of many false truths.

I never thought I'd have this song on repeat this week.

                                 

It's been reassuring to know that I am His, and my student is His, and where our feet fail, He won't fail us.

Keep your eyes above the waves my bundle of life. I am praying for you. 

The Glass Castle: Book Review

Yo Glass Castle, Imma let you finish, but...... I have got to give a shout out to Duck Dude's uncle. 1. For his beautiful attempt at recreating Duck Dude's breakfast and 2. For letting me display it on the internets for the all the world to see. 

---

Now on to The Glass Castle. My first book review ever. I, honestly, do not even know how book reviews are supposed to work, so I just started writing down thoughts... over different aspects, and this is what I came up with. 

My First Thoughts

The book is so completely like my childhood, and then on the next page it is the furthest thing from my childhood.

I was engaged from the 2^nd chapter on. It begins with the present and then flashes back to Jeannette Walls’ childhood. The first chapter was intriguing, but it did not hook me. As soon as I began the 2^nd chapter, I could not put it down. Luckily, I read it during STAAR testing, so I didn’t have to put it down for 4 hours.

Main Character Thoughts

The main character is the author. You can tell Jeannette is a motivated little girl from the beginning of the book. She is motivated to survive on her own, whether her parents were going to provide for her or not. There were so many times throughout the novel where I admired her positive outlook on life, no matter their current situation.

There are many times throughout the book where her parents say, “We’re going on an adventure!” While I do like the symbolism of life being an adventure, no child should ever have to live through an adventure like hers.

Thoughts Related to My Students

I thought about a lot of my student’s home lives throughout the book. Former students, current students, and future students. It was a good reminder that I never really know what they are going through at home or what their relationships with their parents are like.

This is not a book for my students to read because of language, however, I think it would be interesting for them to read it and (for my students) see the juxtaposition to their own lives. If you teach in a lower SES school, it might be interesting to see how they relate to the book.

Thoughts on the “Glass Castle”

The glass castle is essentially an unattainable dream.

But, it’s not the author’s dream. Her dream starts as unattainable until she works, and works, and works, and works to make it attainable. That determination is what makes the book such an inspiring story.

Final Thoughts

I am very happy to say I added this book to my checked off list. I would definitely recommend it to other people to experience. I have already given my copy to my mom, and I cannot wait to hear what she says about it!

*do not let my attempt at this deter you from reading this book or any others.  

Duck Dude's Breakfast and Bunt Cake

After our Ranger game fun, we had one giant slumber party at Duck Dude's parent's house. 
I woke up to Duck Dude in the kitchen.. cooking away. Then the conversation went a little like this:
Me: "What are you making?" Duck Dude: "I saw a picture on facebook!" Me: "You saw a picture on facebook and just decided to make it?" Duck Dude: "Well, I saw three pictures!"
And then I stepped back and let him do his thang. Thang, with an a. If you follow me on Instagram, you've already seen the final product. It was magnificent and I knew it would be a blog post, but since I didn't actually make it, I let him write down his directions! So, for the first time ever, take it away Duck Dude:

1.       Start by laying the base layer of your breakfast bunt cake by placing each of the crescent rolls making an octagon in the center of a cookie sheet.  This will be opposite of what a pizza looks like when the slices facing outwards.

2.       Fry your 10 pieces of bacon leaving them a little softer that we usually cook them in Texas.  You will need them to be flimsy to fold over with your crescent rolls.

3.       Place 1 piece of bacon long side each of the 8 crescent slices and the other two slices placed inside the octagon to where you can see no cookie sheet

4.       Scramble all 8 eggs mixed with the ¼ cup of milk, tony chachere’s seasoning salt, bell peppers and onion ends (I informed him these are actually called green onions!)

5.       Once your eggs are scrambled you will neatly place them in a circle around the middle of the crescent rolls leaving a hole in the center of them.

6.       Add the chopped tomato and shredded cheese to top of your scrambled eggs

7.       Fold over the ends of the crescent rolls to join together in the middle making the bunt cake shape. 

8.       Sprinkle a little shredded cheese over the tops of the crescent rolls

9.       Bake at 350 degrees until tops of crescent rolls are golden brown

10.   Serve pizza style!

If you haven't figured out, he also named it.... because he had no clue what it actually was called. But whatever it is, you should try it! 

Weekend Rangers Recap

I had a marvelous weekend. Starting with my dog sitting. Mom left me an excellent new surprise. I've already put in an order from Costco. It was so good and filling, that I didn't even finish it. I need them for school. I think I would actually eat breakfast this way. 

And then mom's Keurig drawer was so full it took me 4 minutes to pick out which coffee I wanted. I really love butter toffee, but should I try something I haven't tried yet? And hazlenut just sounded like a solid choice, but I ended up choosing the Archer Farms Caramel Macchiato (see where the blank spot is?). I added some almond milk, and it was superb.

Then I ran to the sports store close to my moms and got a new Rangers shirt for a new season. I decided that I would attempt to wear a Rangers shirt to the game. I've had this superstition for a couple years that if I wear a Rangers shirt to the game, they lose.... but if I just wear a red tank top or navy shirt, they win! Wondering what the moral of the story is? Always go with your superstition. They lost 6-5 in the 10th inning, and I am afraid that I am personally responsible. However, do not think that stopped me from having a good time. 

 

Fried mushrooms, nachos, and pizza were involved throughout the night, and today I'm back on the diet, and not wanting to get back on the scale.