Christmas Gift

"Christmas gift suggestions:  To your enemy, forgiveness. To an opponent, tolerance.  To a friend, your heart.  To a customer, service.  To all, charity.  To every child, a good example.  To yourself, respect."

-- Oren Arnold

Day Two - Coffee, Corks, Crafting, and Cleaning

Day two was just as wonderful as day one.  I woke up and decided to treat myself to one last Starbucks drink before I head to Cashmere (aka - the only town without a Starbucks) for the rest of break.

  I have been adding up the many ideas of cork crafts I've found on Pinterest.  I was given a bag full of wine corks and have been dying to put them to use! I was able to make many cute things today.  Below are just a few of them.  I'm very excited to have more time to invest in my "to-do Pinterest craft list".

Now, I'm off to clean my entire condo.  It'll be nice to come back home after vacation to a clean house!  

Day One - Sleep, Starbucks, Shop, & Shine

It's my goal to do something every day of break that I want or have wanted to do other days, but that I just don't have time for.  Today I allowed myself to sleep in.  I woke up early, but I forced myself to go back to sleep.  Then, I finally got up around 8:00am and laid in bed read my Kindle.  It was WONDERFUL!  

Then, I got up and ready about 10:00am and headed to Starbucks for a yummy treat (chai with eggnog).  I told myself calories didn't count today!  

I then went to Redmond Town Center where I had a few returns to make and let myself just window shop. 

 Afterwards, I headed to Bellevue Luxury Nails (a hole in the wall, cheap, amazing nail shop) and treated myself to a mani and a pedi.  This place is seriously amazing!  They're prices are CHEAP CHEAP CHEAP, but what they give you is AMAZING!!  

Finally, I wrapped up my night by going to the movie with Gina (see previous post).  

I am totally soaking up having all this time on my hands!

These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things...

I absolutely ADORE Christmas decorations.  I saw a Facebook post where people went around their houses and snapped pictures of their favorite decorations.  It inspired me to take a second to truly cherish the decorations of mine that I absolutely LOVE!

My tiny sock ornament

My JOY sign

My rustic star ornaments

My new stockings from Target :)

My nativity scene (hoping that one day I can get the Demdaco angel one)

My elf on the shelf (Elfina)

My very first "teacher ornament" from a student

One of the many snowmen in my house at this moment

My candy cane lantern

 Another nativity scene - the reason for the season

 The BEST Christmas cookie plate that I got for $1!

May your Christmas be as merry and bright as my favorite decorations!  Praise God for such a wonderful season to celebrate!

Movie Date Night

Tonight I got to go on a girls date with my cousin.  We went out for happy hour and then to see the movie "New Year's Eve".  The food was DELICIOUS, the movie was HILARIOUS, and the company was WONDERFUL!  Such a blessing to spend time with her.  My busy schedule hasn't allowed much wiggle room for hang out time, so this was long over due and much needed!  BTW - I highly recommend this movie if you're looking to see a funny, inspirational, end of the year, and just plain happy movie!

Presents Galore!

Wrapping presents makes me so incredibly happy!  I love picking out gifts, getting them all wrapped up nicely, and seeing the person's face as they open it up (hopefully they'll love it!).  Someday, I'd love to have a craft room where I have a cabinet FULL of different types of ribbon, paper, and present tags to use on them.  Any good suggestions for how to make a present look especially cute?  Please do share!

Bubble Gum Writing

I needed a project that would cross between different subjects and bring together many ideas we've been working on.  I found this idea on pinterest (yes, I'm in love with that website!) and used it three weeks ago on my third graders.  It turned out to be a HUGE hit!  This project was going to combine science (doing an experiment, gathering data, putting data together to create a graph) and reading (sequencing events and appropriately labeling transition phrases).  The students were each handed a piece of bubble gum and told to chew it and see if they could blow a bubble.  They each were given a small pink circle to put their name on.  If they could blow a bubble, they put their pink circle into the "Yes" side of the bar graph.  If they couldn't blow a bubble, they put their pink circle into the "No" side of the bar graph.  Then, they were given the "First, Next, Last" paper and told to clearly write out the steps they took to be able to blow a bubble or the steps they think they should take to be able to blow a bubble.  Finally, they used scrap paper to create their own faces.  I punched a hole in their mouths and taped a blown up pink balloon to their faces.  These cute pictures hung in the back of my classroom and all the kids absolutely LOVED sharing their findings as well as their pictures.  I could highly recommend this project.

Christmas Story

I saw the CUTEST video of Christmas Story on youtube.  It's all acted out and narrated by children.  I love finding different ways the story of Jesus' birth is told.  Check it out!

God is Good....

Just when I think I'm not worth it, His grace, love, and goodness covers me to give me a peace that passes understanding.  Praise God for always loving me even when I don't deserve it.

We WHISK you a Merry KISS-mas!

I needed to small, affordable Christmas present for all my classroom aides that help at my school.  I heard this cute idea on the radio and just had to do it!  All you do is buy a whisk and fill it with chocolate kisses.  I found that the loops were too big and the kisses fell out, so I wrapped them first in plastic wrap and then put them inside it.  Then, made cute little tags for them with the catch phrase "I WHISK you a Merry KISS-mas" and then finished it off with a red bow.  Hopefully they'll find this gift cute, but also useful.  

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas...

More like "It's Been Looking A Lot Like Christmas".... I had an early itch to decorate for Christmas, so I ended up doing it a week before Thanksgiving.  I do this because 1.)  I absolutely LOVE Christmas decorations 2.) I go visit my parents for most of Christmas break so I barely get to enjoy my own decorations and 3.) Because I just can!  :)  

I absolutely love seeing the Christmas lights in my condo at night!  They make my mood!  I wish we could enjoy Christmas decorations for longer than just one month!

Obsessed

I started reading the "Hunger Games" this summer and loved it.  But, as soon as the end of August rolled around, all my time got sucked into my classroom and teaching.  Lately, I've snagged a couple of free nights and started reading it again on my kindle and I'm OBSESSED!  These books are made for a young adult (middle school to high school age) but have such a good pace within the writing that it keeps me wanting to know more.  I'm almost done with the third and final book and  I would highly recommend them to anyone who wants a quick and entertaining read. 

Luckily, they are now making movies after the books.  The first one comes out March 23, 2012 and I will definitely be seeing it!  Hopefully it won't be a disappointing movies because the books are so good!

First Post

Okay, so here we go!  I'm trying to force myself to attempt a long time desire of having a blog.  I'm going to try my best to keep up on it and post as much as possible, but I'm not making any promises!  Wish me luck!  :)