5 for Five- Week 7

I'm linking up, once again, with Jessica and Jenn for 5 for Five this week! Join in on the fun! Wow- It has already been 7 weeks of this fun blog hop!

Link up with us at the start of the work week to set five goals that you want to accomplish in the next five days!! 

Green= Things I accomplished

Red= The ones I didn't do- opps!

ORANGE= are the things I half did...yes, I made this color up because it was needed with some of my goals! 

Last week's goal:

1. Keep a food journal 

2. Post my favorite things giveaway    Click here to enter!! 6 more days! 

3. Spend quality time with my family, friends and The Boy, without thinking about school work or lesson plans.

4. Continue reading my book I started. 

5. Meal plan my next 2 weeks, after I come back from Thanksgiving.

New goals for this week:

1. Start and KEEP a food journal. No excuses- just have been too busy? I figured I'd wait until after Thanksgiving anyways :)

2. Continue my book I started. For those wondering it's Nicholas Sparks, A Bend in the Road (So good so far---only on chapter 4 though)

3. Meal plan the next 2 weeks (I'll do this tonight)

4. No texting/checking e-mails/tweeting while driving! (I know, I know, it's a horrible habit---but it makes the 30 minute drive home more bearable. Just NOT worth it! I need to stop!)

5. Start thinking about christmas presents, or at least make a list of people I need to get gifts for. 

GO CHECK OUT MY FAVORITE THINGS GIVEAWAY! Not many people have entered so your chances are good! :)

Sunday Social- 4's edition

Love Sunday's, but having a hard time getting ready for tomorrow's school day. Anyway, here goes all my 4's.

1. Name 4 jobs you’ve had in your life: Nanny, waitress, retail and my favorite job yet, TEACHING!

2. Name 4 movies you would watch over and over: The Holiday, The Goonies, Double Jeopardy and Grease. (I know they are all over the place and random, but I'm a random person- lol)

3. Name 4 places you have lived: Suburbs of Chicago (21+ years), the city of Chicago (Lincoln Park) during college, Macomb, IL (while I was at WIU) and now a northern city in Tennessee.

4. Name 4 of your favorite foods: mac & cheese, pizza, portillo's chopped salad, and then banana with peanut butter

5. Name 4 things you always carry with you: iPhone, chapstick, wallet, gum

6. Name 4 places you have been on vacation: Hawaii, Cancun, Ocean Isle Beach, NC and Naples/Ft. Myers, FL.

That was fun! Now onto seeing how well I did with my goals for this past week-I'm scared. Stay turned tomorrow for the weekly 5 for Five post with Jessica and Jen. Also, don't forget to stop on by for my Favorite Things Giveaway! It's my first ever giveaway, so I'm super excited about it!! 

Well, I should get to looking at my lesson plans for this week. Hope everyone has a great week! 

My Black Friday Giveaway

I thought it was only appropriate to start my giveaway on black Friday. I did not go at all hours of the night, but I will go this afternoon. Did anyone else go this morning and score great deals?

On to my first ever giveaway...

MY FAVORITE THINGS GIVEAWAY!

I loved shopping for this, but it was so hard to not open and use all of these things myself! Good Luck! The giveaway will close December 3rd! Just in time for Christmas!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

My favorite things explanations: (it never hurts, right?)

Starbucks Peppermint Mocha Via packs...enough said :)

WEEDS is my absolute favorite show. I'm sad it's ending, but it was a great show.

Panera is my favorite 'fast food' restaurant. 

Christmas pencils and erasers because I love sharing the holiday cheer with my students and they love these pencils.

A halloween candle because I love halloween, fall and everything about it!

EOS chapstick is THE best type of chapstick and I added 2 more chapsticks because I'm not sure about anyone else, but my lips are always chapped in the winter time. I have one in an arms reach at all times!

Peppermint M&M's make my day better, no matter what! :)

And last but not least, Essie nail polish. I loved this color. It was so hard to not open it and try it on myself first. So, I just went and bought the same one for me! LOVE IT!

I hope everyone had an amazing Thanksgiving. I know I did! Loved spending time with family and great friends. 

           

5 for Five- Week 6

I'm linking up, once again, with Jessica and Jenn for 5 for Five this week! Join in on the fun!

Link up with us at the start of the work week to set five goals that you want to accomplish in the next five days!! 

Green= Things I accomplished

Red= The ones I didn't do- opps!

ORANGE= are the things I half did...yes, I made this color up because it was needed with some of my goals! 

Last week's goal:

1. Book my flight home for Christmas. IF I don't do this now, it'll get more expensive! Wah!

2. Finish taking pictures and getting the post written for my giveaway.

3. Go in and talk to my leasing office about this apartment.

4. Keep a food journal. No, I'm not going on (or been on) a diet, but I have the most unbearable stomach pains. I WILL get to the bottom of this. If you want to read what I've already tried and my journey through frustrations, read it here.

5. Go send letters and advent calendar by going to the UPS store. (You might laugh, but I've had 6 letters addressed and all, sitting on my desk for 4 weeks and so I need to do this!)

Yay!! I thought I wouldn't do so hot considering I didn't look at my goals until last night. Go ME! :) 

Explanations: 

-I have all but ONE thing for my giveaway. I will get it today and take pictures and THEN put it up!

-I totally forgot about my food journal and need to do it ASAP!

New goals for this week:

1. Keep a foor journal (this will be interesting considering Thanksgiving is this week-but my stomach is STILL killing me!)

2. Post my favorite things giveaway

3. Spend quality time with my family, friends and The Boy, without thinking about school work or lesson plans.

4. Continue reading my book I started. 

5. Meal plan my next 2 weeks, after I come back from Thanksgiving.

Also, I had some people ask how my carmel apple cider turned out....AHHH-MAZING!! It even taste good reheated in the microwave! 

I hope everyone has a fantastic Monday. This girl couldn't be happier that it's only a 2 day work week!!! (Insert extremely happy face here!!)

Sunday Social-Thankful edition!

Today, I am linking up for the first time with the girls behind A Complete Waste of Makeup (Neely) and Ashley's Carnival Ride (Ashley). I always see and read so many Sunday Socials that today was only appropriate to join in the fun the week before Thanksgiving!

Today's link up is all about Giving Thanks. (Warning: PICTURE OVERLOAD!) 

Today, I am thankful for:

My family. For supporting any and all decisions I have ever made in my short little life so far. For example, being behind me and my big decision to move out of state for a job.

The Boy. For being there for me and truly being my best friend. He treats me with respect, makes me laugh and loves me for who I am. I couldn't ask for a better boyfriend!

My best friends. Who are there for me even if I'm 600 miles away. They are the ones I call when I'm bored on a Saturday night while I watch 48 Hours. And 9 outta 10 times they are doing the same thing! :) I wish they were down here though to get frozen yogurt with me or go out and have wine on a Saturday night. 

 
 

My friends at work. I'm thankful that I have coworkers who have turned into good friends. They keep me sane. I'm not going to lie... I have had some ROUGH days at work. More than I care to admit, but just talking with them makes my day better. And sometimes those Friday night 'meetings' at a local restaurant are even more NEEDED!!

My job. In this economy, I am definitely grateful that I actually HAVE a job. As we all know, teachers don't make that much money, but I'm paying my student loans, paying my rent and still managing to feed myself. (Insert poor joke here) lol. And most days my kids are pretty awesome as well! :)

My doggies that I miss so dearly! Living without a dog has been lonely and boring. I miss walking in the door to Tio or Bronx jumping on me with wagging tails. Dogs make everything better and cannot wait to get back to them.

 

This blog. The place where I can say whatever I want, whenever I want and no body can stop me! :) I just got all my favorite giveaway stuff bought and now I'm trying to take pretty pictures of them. I promise to have it up before Thanksgiving!! Please be patient as this is my first giveaway! 

Life. At the end of the day, I can go to sleep knowing I am loved, blessed and lucky to have the life I have. Even if I had a bad day, tomorrow can be better (and it usually is).

I am also thankful for Thanksgiving because it brings all my (and The Boy's) family together. It might be my favorite Holiday. I'm still debating because no matter what holiday is around the corner, that turns out to be my favorite! 

Well, this Sunday has been super productive! Deep cleaned the apartment, did laundry, cooked dinner, ran some errands and started to pack for home! Hope everyone has an amazing Sunday.

It's one of those days

I just feel BLAH! I'm not sure why either. I woke up in a great mood, wanting to accomplish a lot. I made a quick errand with Mrs. D and then went to the UPS store. I did send off my advent calendar stuff for Jenn! :) I can't wait until she receives it!

Then, I went to Starbucks to grab a drink. I still have a gift card there, so luckily I didn't spend money there. Money has been a huge stressor lately, but I'm trying to not think about it and just go on with my day-to-day activities. Then, I tried calling The Boy because I hadn't heard from him all morning and he worked late last night. It was about noon. He answered but was cranky and short with me. It just added to my BLAH day.

So, I came home and decided to make some book marks for my students and some Carmel Apple Spice Cider. Here is the original pin that I repinned. Fortunately, I already had all the stuff. 

Source: crockpot365.blogspot.com via Kristen on Pinterest

And here is mine. I used a dip crock pot because I wasn't making a huge batch of it, but wanted enough to last me a couple days and it worked perfectly!!

As this was cooking away, I started cutting out retelling bookmarks for my students. I had leftover paint chips (FREE from WalMart!) that I used for another literacy center and just typed up what I wanted the students to recall.

This year, we're trying to really push retelling. Specifically, so it can align with DIBELS testing. In theory, they read a passage for one minute and then they have to retell the story they just read accurately in one minute. So, we decided to make these little bookmarks. I think I'm the last one to make these in my grade, but hey, it's better late than never. I'm hoping, as my students read, they'll look at their bookmarks afterwards to try to recall what they just read about. Hey, anything to get them thinking. 

Directions (pretty simple):

Cut out typed out words.

Glue onto each color strip.

Laminate and then cut out and waaaa-laaa!!

You now have wonderful, STURDY, retelling bookmarks!

Here are the final products.

My goals this week are questionable. I'm scared to look at them tomorrow to see how I did. I'll wait until tomorrow. I'm hoping some carmel apple cider and good TV tonight and change my mood. I can't wait to be home in 3 days!!!!

5 for Five- Week 5

I'm linking up, once again, with Jessica and Jenn for 5 for Five this week! Join in on the fun!

Link up with us at the start of the work week to set five goals that you want to accomplish in the next five days!! 

Green are things I accomplished and the ones in red are the ones I didn't do- opps! And a new color- ORANGE are the things I half did...if that makes sense! :)

Last Week's Goals:

1. Start reading my new book.

2. Book my flight home for Christmas

3. Figure out my living situation (This place is too expensive for me- I hate living paycheck-to-paycheck!)

4. Get My favorite things giveaway sorted out and bought! :) YAY!! (This means figuring out how to do a giveaway. Tips and suggestions are wanted! lol)

5. Finish everything in my fridge before I buy anything else (excluding milk and bread!)

Explanations: 

-I have researched some other apartment complexes, but have yet to discuss breaking my lease with my current apartment leaser. 

-My giveaway is coming together. I'm going out today (on my day off :) to finish shopping for it!

Now, this week's goal:

1. Book my flight home for Christmas. IF I don't do this now, it'll get more expensive! Wah!

2. Finish taking pictures and getting the post written for my giveaway.

3. Go in and talk to my leasing office about this apartment.

4. Keep a food journal. No, I'm not going on (or been on) a diet, but I have the most unbearable stomach pains. I WILL get to the bottom of this. If you want to read what I've already tried and my journey through frustrations, read it here.

5. Go send letters and advent calendar by going to the UPS store. (You might laugh, but I've had 6 letters addressed and all, sitting on my desk for 4 weeks and so I need to do this!)

Hope everyone has a great Veterans Day! Thank you so very much Grandpa for serving our country so long ago! Love you and miss you everyday!!

Don't forget to enter in Pencil Books and Dirty Looks giveaway! Awesome stuff here!!

Catch Up Sunday

Wow! First let me apologize for the blogger MIA. I have had quite the week. My week started out not so good and by Friday I found out my 2 best girl friends were coming down to see me for the weekend! Needless to say, it was a fantastic, much needed weekend with my best friends! I was also dog sitting for Mr. and Mrs. D and she was so kind to let all 3 of us stay at her house with her babies. It was a fantastic weekend!! Here is our weekend in pictures.

It was 80 degrees here Saturday!!

Tired pups=love!!

Us before going out in Nashville.

Saturday morning headed to the Country Music Hall of Fame!

Out in Nashville!! It was an amazing weekend!!

Now onto updates about my favorite things giveaway, 5 for Five and the very anticipated Advent Calendar swap. :)

Favorite things giveaway is coming sometime this week. I don't have school tomorrow, so I'll be shopping for my favorite things, just not for me, but for some lucky reader!! :)

Update on 5 for Five:

1. Start reading my new book.

2. Book my flight home for Christmas

3. Figure out my living situation (This place is too expensive for me- I hate living paycheck-to-paycheck!)

4. Get My favorite things giveaway sorted out and bought! :) YAY!! (This means figuring out how to do a giveaway. Tips and suggestions are wanted! lol)

5. Finish everything in my fridge before I buy anything else (excluding milk and bread!)

My 2 week meal plan is going great!! I love knowing what I'm eating the next day! :)

Today I did some looking shopping for my advent calendar swap! So excited to participate in this!! Now, back to watching football! Have a great relaxing Sunday!!

5 for Five- week 4

I'm linking up, once again, with Jessica and Jenn for 5 for Five this week! Join in on the fun!

Link up with us at the start of the work week to set five goals that you want to accomplish in the next five days!! 

Green are things I accomplished and the ones in red are the ones I didn't do- opps! And a new color- ORANGE are the things I half did...if that makes sense! :)

Last week's goals:

1. Figure out my after school plans this year (I'm just going to stick it out- I need the extra money and I'm going to stop stressing over it!)

2. Do not buy ONE thing this week---I really want to accomplish this! (I did this!! YES! Except I went out to lunch with coworkers Saturday, but I didn't count that because I needed that adult interaction this weekend-lol)

3. I want to start reading a new book. (I picked out a book last night-now this week I'll start reading it. Or at least that's what I tell myself)

4. Make meal plans for the next 2 weeks (trying to use everything in my refrigerator and pantry) (Proof in this picture. And yes, I eat cereal for breakfast every MORNING!)

5. Be confrontational when it's necessary. (This one wasn't really necessary this week-but it's still good to think about!)

New goals for this week:

1. Start reading my new book.

2. Book my flight home for Christmas

3. Figure out my living situation (This place is too expensive for me- I hate living paycheck-to-paycheck!)

4. Get My favorite things giveaway sorted out and bought! :) YAY!! (This means figuring out how to do a giveaway. Tips and suggestions are wanted! lol)

5. Finish everything in my fridge before I buy anything else (excluding milk and bread!)

Don't forget to go out and VOTE tomorrow! Yay for no kids tomorrow but Nah for staff development- blah!

A few reminders and updates

Reminder: If you haven't changed your clocks already, I'd suggest you do this now so you don't go to work a hour early tomorrow--- Just saving you some time. :)

Reminder: tomorrow if the 5 for Five link-up with Jessica and Jenn. I also refer to it as "What Kristen does and doesn't get done each week". Update: I'll just let you know I have done 3 1/2 out of 5! I'll let you know which ones tomorrow! :)

UPDATE: If you've been a reader for awhile, you'll know my Grandpa passed away a little over a year ago. If you are a new reader (yay for new readers), you can read more about what an amazing man he was here and here (my tribute to him last year on Veteran's day), and read about our trip to DC to burry him at Arlington National Cemetery here. We had a military service for him here. The only thing missing was the iconic and heroic tombstones that line the Cemetery. We had a temporary headstone that worked while we were there.

This is what it looked like when we went there in April 2012. 

UPDATE cont.: Well, I received an e-mail from my mom the other day saying the real headstone had replaced the temporary one!! YAY! Finally, my Grandpa's final resting place is beautiful and more importantly, it is there indefinitely. The way it should be!

How pretty is that? I love it! RIP Grandpa Dick!

Reminder: if you haven't already, go check out my post about renting textbooks. I swear it will save you so much money!!

UPDATE: I'm thankful November is here. There was something about October that just stressed me out. I'm over October and onto November. Bring on all things Thanksgiving baby!!

Reminder: Pencils Books and Dirty Looks is hosting a 300 follower giveaway this week!! Go on over and enter. I'm a new follower of hers and her teaching stuff is fabulous! Not to mention all of the things that she is giving away just happens to be all of MY favorite things as well. How awesome would that be if I won! :)

UPDATE: My coworker and friend, Mrs. H just found out she's expecting a little BOY in April!!! I am so excited for her that I now might have baby fever. The other girls on our team helped celebrate with her Friday morning by bringing her in blue balloons, some adorable onesies and blue cupcakes. I was in charge of making cupcakes and they turned out so cute! I hope she enjoyed all of her surprises as much as we loved putting it all together. Here is a picture of the cupcakes I made.

And last but certainly not least...if you love Christmas and everything about it, go on over to Sarah's blog at Scissors and a Whisk  to join in the fun of an advent calendar swap! I am so excited about this!!

I hope everyone is going out to vote Tuesday! I don't care who you vote for, voting is a privilege and is a way to get your voice heard! This is mine...

Source: thelarsonlingo.blogspot.com via Kristen on Pinterest

(I'm semi-joking lol)

Along with this ecard that I just LOVE! So true!!

Source: someecards.com via Kristen on Pinterest

Also, once I get to 100 followers I'll do a my favorite things giveaway!! I can't believe I'll be at 100 followers!! This is crazy. First, I need to find out how to host a giveaway, which might be another story in itself. :)