New Traditions

Pinterest has provided endless holiday ideas for me as I scour others' pins for hours.  As Stephen and I enter the holiday season as a married couple, our traditions/what we're used to will have to change some. We have never spent a holiday together in all of our 5 years of dating. Our families do things at the same time so we'll have to adjust our traditions this year. I'm not a huge fan of change, but I'm going into this year with excited anticipation of how fun it will be as a married couple.

As our traditions are changing, I decided it might be fun to start some new traditions of our own. Pinterest is just the place to get a plethora of ideas for that. One day there were several pins about advent calendars. I had heard of them before, but didn't know much about them. As I learned about the different types of advent calendars, I decided it would be fun to make one of my own for me and Stephen to do this Christmas season. I don't know if there is a certain way you're supposed to make them or use them, but I took my favorite part of each and made my own variation. I created my own calendar and Stephen and I came up with our own things to do each day.

I started with an old card board box

Decorated it...I used scrapbook paper that I had in my classroom

Brainstormed a list of ideas we would enjoy doing leading up to Christmas

Made our daily envelopes

I wrapped note cards (so they would be a little more sturdy) with wrapping paper. I used a wrapping paper that had a big enough design that I could have one design on each card.
Then, I numbered the envelopes

Glued down the cards...making sure to leave the top open so I could put the daily activity in later

Got a calendar and mapped out our month...I wrote down which days had activities that we would need to prepare for before the day of like having people over for dinner

Paper clipped activities inside each little envelope and hung!

We'll open one per day until Christmas day!

If you're interested, here is our list for this year in no particular order!

1. make a gingerbread house
2. drive around and look at christmas lights
3. make cookies
4. drink hot chocolate and watch a christmas movie
5. make ornaments
6. mail out christmas cards
7. camp out in front of the christmas tree
8. go to the christmas eve service
9. volunteer at the durham rescue mission
10. have friends over for dinner
11. try a new recipe
12. invite our parents over for dinner
13. have a game night with friends where everyone brings their favorite christmas treat
14. make our favorite christmas snack
15. go to the bahama christmas parade
16. get starbucks together
17. go to dinner at our favorite Mexican restaurant
18. go see the living christmas tree
19. wrap presents
20. shop for stocking stuffers
21. decorate and hang stockings
22. watch a christmas movie on tv
23. pack an operation christmas child shoe box
24. have a date night
25. enjoy christmas day with family and friends

Honored

Several weeks ago, we had a Veteran's Day assembly at school. The chorus, the band, and the strings all performed as we honored veterans from the community. It is always a nice opportunity for us to serve the community and for them to see that public middle schoolers aren't crazy.

Well, earlier this week my band students started coming up to me saying they had to re-do the veteran's day assembly on Tuesday and asking if they could miss class for it. I was confused because I hadn't heard anything about another assembly and the students weren't really sure why they were doing it either. They thought they had to do it so they could record it. With it being the day before Thanksgiving break, I didn't ask many questions and told them they could go.

At lunch on Tuesday the band director came in and told us what was really going on. One of the 8th grade band student's father got home from Afghanistan Monday night. He had not seen his daughter yet and they arranged the assembly "re-do" to surprise her and honor him. She plays on the drum line and was playing her heart away on the bass drum when her dad walked into the gym. It took her a few seconds to realize what was going on. The band teacher said she stared in confusion for a few seconds as she continued playing and then the recognition of what was going on happened. It still took her a few more seconds to fully grasp it before she took off across the gym to hug him. There wasn't a dry eye in the place; it was so sweet.

I haven't been able to hear someone tell this story or tell it to someone else without getting choked up. I know it is a moment she will never forget. It's moments like these that make being a teacher so special.

Wedding Prep

My best friend, Stephanie, is getting married this summer. I got to spend this past weekend at an all weekend bridal show. I only went to a one, one-day bridal show when I was engaged. Apparently it's rare for these shows to last all weekend. Steph worked her way into free tickets to the show and talked her way into a free night at the hotel. So, we took the itinerary, went to the things we wanted to and skipped out on the things we weren't interested in to do our own thing.

It was so nice to have a girls' weekend away. We almost scored a free massage in the process, but got there too late and all of them had been taken. However, the coordinators felt bad and worked it out for us to enjoy all of the other spa freebies (we were only supposed to get one). So, we got our hair done, a hand massage, and our make up done. I don't know what the deal was, but my hair and make up was atrocious...and I'm not exaggerating. I don't wear much make up and don't claim to know a lot about make up, but I do know enough to know that mine looked horrible that night. Then came the hair. It was great to sit there and have my hair played with. Since we were at this show, there weren't mirrors around like in a hair shop so I couldn't see what was going on. When I got up and looked in the mirror, it was hard to hide my shock. Steph and I laughed about my hair the rest of the night. Every time I walked past a mirror I was in shock at the mess that was my hair. It looked like an 8 year girl had done my hair. Steph's make up and hair, on the other hand, looked awesome, which was all that mattered because...

...then, we went and tried on wedding dresses. Well...Steph did...I took pictures. She was the only one trying on dresses Friday night so she had the full attention of the two bridal shops that had dresses on display there. It was great and she looked amazing! We shut the place down Friday night. The show ended at 11 and it was after midnight that we left. We got in our room and crashed.

Saturday we got up and went to Chick-Fil-A for breakfast, our favorite! Then, we drove around to look at venues for the wedding. We did a little shopping at the outlets and had some lunch, then headed back to the house to get ready for dinner. Saturday night they had a little black dress four course dinner where florists and DJs were being featured. We were so tired, we almost skipped out, but decided it would be a good idea to see the florists and DJs because you don't get that opportunity often. We almost left right before dinner was served because we couldn't even understand what was being served the food was so fancy. We left shortly after dinner, watched some Friends, another favorite obsession, and crashed.

Sunday we slept in, went to lunch at Hokkaido, another favorite and I headed home. It was a fun weekend and I can't wait for this picture to be reversed (her in the wedding dress, me in the bridesmaid dress)...

...when she marries the love of her life

Home Decor

I finally reached the point that I was tired of having bare walls in our home. So, Allyson and I set out Friday to get something on these bare walls of mine. I couldn't be happier with how our main project for the day turned out, decor over our bed.

I got the idea from Pinterest and a friend of mine who has these lovely painted wood squares all around her home. I always feel like a moron in Lowes, especially in the lumber section. I usually get asked several times if I need any help because I am clearly out of place. However, when we actually could have used some help, no one was to be found. Allyson and I found a beautiful piece of plywood 4ft by 8ft just above our heads, but still within reach. After some careful maneuvering, we were able to get the piece down and rolled to the cutter. After our conversation with the not so intelligent wood cutter, I didn't feel quite as dumb. We got the board cut down into smaller pieces, got our paint sample and headed home.

This is our final product...love!

 We also hung a picture of our entire wedding party in the living room, my bridal portrait, and finished the dining room, which was so lovingly referred to as an art gallery from across the world. I know these pictures aren't the best, but they give you an idea.

I thought getting some pictures on the wall would satisfy me for a while, but it has really just made me realize how bare the rest of the walls are now. We're currently on the hunt for an old window pane for above our couch and the wood/picture combo may be making a reappearance in the stairwell. We used a lot of the wood, but not all of it...stay tuned...

TGIF

Thank goodness it's Friday and I'm off! Yay for a holiday!

You'd think that with an extra hour of sleep and only a four day work week, I'd be full of energy. I was still ready to crash at 9pm last night, but I pushed through until 10:30 and contemplated sleeping on the couch where I was stretched out. The good thing about going to bed early is that I can sleep in and still have most of my day to get stuff done. 9am used to early for me, now it's an extra 3.5 hours of sleep!

Today is full of cleaning, cooking, and decorating. I am finally tired of my bare walls...it's only been 5.5 months since I moved in. Now that I have wedding pictures back and am in the swing of things at school, it's time to get some art on the walls. My lovely sister is coming home today to help me and put her amazing interior decorating skills to practice!

The rest of the weekend will be spent hanging out with friends and my cousin's birthday party. Planning this  year is taking a lot less of my weekend and I love it! Not having to create lessons from scratch is amazing. I am definitely having to tweak some things, but I can usually get it done at school during planning throughout the week. Having the weekend all to me is GREAT!

We have officially entered the point in the year where regular 5 day weeks are few and far between. I'm okay with this because it means the holidays are quickly approaching! Good food. Good times. Family. First Christmas. Decorating. 2 weeks off. I can't wait!

I'm beginning to realize that my kitchen is not going to clean itself. I've cleaned every other room (including bathrooms), checked email, did some facebook stalking, and blogged, and there are still dishes piled high. So, off to the kitchen I go...

Before that though, because no update is complete without a quote from my students...
When I asked two boys this week why they were hugging like they would never see each other again, one responded, "I think it's because we don't get to see our girlfriends enough."
"So, you have to hug each other?" I asked.
In unison, "Yes!"

Amen

Yesterday while sharing Good Things, a boy began to tell how he was going to get to hang out with his pastor this weekend. Before he could say more, a girl from across the room, with her hand raised, shouted, "Amen!" I couldn't help but smile.

This was our last regular, full week until after Thanksgiving. Next week is short because of Veteran's Day. The next week we have a field trip and a day of common assessments. Then, it's the week of Thanksgiving! Last year, the first part of the year flew by, but this year I feel like Thanksgiving is taking forever to get here. I'm ready for the break and for several consecutive days of sleeping in. The 4:15am alarm is getting old...

I had a cold this week and lost my voice. Tuesday my voice began to go out during 5th period and it was almost non-existent all day Wednesday. I love how students respond when you're sick. They would yell at each other to be quiet because my throat hurt and I couldn't talk loud. And, they listened to one another. My voice is gradually making its way back. I anticipate a full recovery by Monday! Maybe I'll pretend it's still gone; they listen so much better when you're sick!

7th graders are at the stage where they're learning sarcasm. Some of them get it and some just don't. I had a boy ask me on Wednesday if I was sick or if something was wrong with my voice. I said, "What are you talking about? I talk like this all the time." He said, "You do?" I said, "I don't know. Do I?" A friend jumped in at this point and explained that I was sick and was just joking. I think he was still confused even after that. Oh my special children...they keep life at school interesting!

Stephen and I have been out of town the past two weekends. While traveling was a lot of fun, I am so excited to have a weekend at home! I did some work on Christmas presents tonight and am going to sleep in tomorrow! I can't wait!

Have a good weekend!