Pink Champagne

Presently, there are no Presents!

2011-12-11T19:34:00.005-06:00

Only 2 more weeks until Christmas! Have you finished your shopping?

I have barely even begun. I have a few gifts for Mason and one for my mom and that. is. it. Pretty pathetic.

It's not only my aversion to crowded shopping malls that has made me fall behind this year, although God knows I can't stand a crowded mall! Actually it's not the number of people in the mall so much as the traffic and parking that turns me into a mega Scrooge.No, this year it's because I have NO IDEA what to get anyone. My mom was the most helpful of the bunch, giving me a wish list to go off of. But everyone else... no clue. Mason wants clothes. He always wants clothes. So boring.

So not only do I have to actually go out and purchase gifts. I'm having to wrack my brain to come up with gifts perfect for everyone on my shopping list. I have no creative juices this year - they have all been sucked up by visions of our wedding dancing in my head. I recently finished helping my friend Adrian design our Save the Dates and will be spending the weeks of my winter break addressing one billion envelopes! Makes my hand hurt just thinking about it. Needless to say I will not be sending out a Holiday Card this year. Sorry my friends. Instead, here is a photo of Mason and I trimming our tree this year.

Because who doesn't decorate their silver tinsel tree with pink roses while wearing a ball gown! ;)

I hope that you all are enjoying December and have all of your gift purchasing behind you! Feel free to leave any ideas you have of gifts to give this Christmas for a lazy bride on a budget. Merry Christmas!

Hello out there??

2011-11-30T00:09:00.001-06:00

Hello blog friends!

Are you still out there? I'm sure many of you have abandoned ship since I have fallen off the blogging bandwagon. My most sincere apologies.

I don't have any hilarious stories for you tonight... or any big updates, but I did want to check in with you to let you know I'm still alive and think of you often!

This fall has been absolutely insane for me and the number one cause of this chaos was my decision to become our school's cheer sponsor.

Being the cheer sponsor entails having to stay with the girls for either a football or basketball game one night every week (usually getting me home around 9pm). Then there are practices - and boy do they love to practice. Constantly begging for more freaking practice. Geez! Don't they have laundry to do, dinner to make, Real Housewives to catch up on and bodies that need working out. No? Guess that's just me.

I'm debating calling it quits on coaching after just my first year because it takes so much out of me - mainly my free time. It's been a lot of fun at times, but mainly it's just another task on my to-do list each week. Only 4 more basketball games though and we're done, so there is a light at the end of the tunnel. How does Sue Sylvester do it??

In other news, we have now approached the 7 month mark until our wedding. To all of you out there, 7 months probably seems like an eternity being more than half a year away, but to the bride-to-be it's starting to become freak out time. I don't know what I'm stressing about. Many of the big decisions have already been made. It's just the little stuff that makes me lose sleep at night (as you maybe can tell since I'm writing this at 12:30 am).

I've also come to realize that no one thinks your wedding is as important as you and your fiance do (aside from your moms). Also, the world will not stop for you as you plan your wedding. I guess I knew it wouldn't, but still a slightly disappointing realization. People will get engaged, get married, have babies and carry on and place their dates all over your calendar without a second thought about your most important day. I get it and am fine with it. It just leads to more stress and costliness when you have 5 more weddings (3 of them destination) and a baby shower or two to get through before your very own day.... and that's nothing... I feel like we've been to over 100 weddings in the past year.

Bottom line - I am just very ready for June 30th to be here. I know there is much to do and be excited about between now and then, but right now I just want it to come, to be enjoyed and to pass so that we can start our lives together officially, because in the end isn't that the main point?

Sorry for such a bleak, non-funny post. I'll cheer up and get back to my old self asap! :)

Addicted.

2011-09-25T18:48:00.004-05:00

My name is Caroline.....and I am an addict.

My drug of choice...

Pinterest.

I am really obsessed ya'll. I mean I just can't stop pinning away all the decorations, outfits and recipes that I want to try out. This weekend things got really out of control.

Yesterday I made a wreath for fall for my mom:

and for myself:

Then for breakfast this morning I made Mason and I pumpkin pancakes and cinnamon syrup from scratch:

For lunch, jalepeno popper grilled cheese:

and since I was on such a roll, I just baked a batch of peanut butter/nutella swirl cookies for the hell of it:

This needs to stop. I can't even make the dinner that I had planned to make tonight because my sudden Betty Homemaker/Martha Stewart-ness has left me too exhausted.

But oh how much fun it would be to fill my days with crafting and cooking instead of working. Someday... Until then, I will be cracked out on Pinterest when I can. The weekends!

I'm Busy - Polishing off Another Bottle of Chard...

2011-09-08T21:18:00.005-05:00

My life is consumed with school right now. Teaching. Cheerleading. Meetings. Lesson Plans. More meetings to meet about what was not finished from the previous meeting. Grading. Meeting about grading. Meetings with people who can't figure out the lesson plans even though they are s-p-e-l-l-e-d out and handed on a silver platter.

....this is leading me to consume lots of wine. Carefree days of summer are gone.

My house is in shambles. Birthday cards sent are belated. My summer tan - gone. Laundry - well... I don't even want to talk about it. Such is the life of a teacher.

Mason's brother sent me this before school started.

Truer words were never written. ;)

Cheers to getting back into the routine of school! Painful though it may be.

Golden Anniversary

2011-08-30T20:48:00.005-05:00

I don't mean to be a total cheese ball, but I will... so humor me.

Mason and I just thought about today's date - August 30th....

We have been together now for 50 months!

Happy "Golden" Anniversary to us!

Annnddddd exactly 10 more months until our wedding! Yay!

Just thought I'd share! :)

All About August

2011-08-28T20:33:00.005-05:00

Hello...

.....so August kind of just came... and went!

I was a busy gal this month. First, I started off by being a bridesmaid in my friend Jill's wedding!

After we married her off, I went back to school for teacher work week. Which happened to be the same week as my b-day week. Woohoo! Look who's 27! Holla!

Now it's back to school. Last week was the first week back with the kiddos and I'm happy to report that my little 6th graders are tiny, cute and smart. No bad apples in the bunch (yet.) :)

Other than that I am just trying to survive this heat wave! Dreaming of fall weather, tailgating, the holidays, jeans, boots and cute sweaters!

This summer was great, but it's time to move on. Happy Back to School... Bring it September!

Shark Week

2011-08-01T22:30:00.003-05:00

Back from Jamaica...

.....just in time for Shark Week!

Shark Week is pretty cool I guess, if you like watching the same documentary over and over and over.

I found a way to make Shark Week waayyyyy more entertaining though!

Found that little bad boy on Pinterest. Have you all checked that out yet? I am obsessed! Like for real. But more on that later...

Tata for now.

Da da da da dadadadadadadadadadda AHHHHH! Uh-oh drink 3! :)

Feel the Rhythm, Feel the Rhyme...

2011-07-26T16:42:00.004-05:00

Get on up! It's ~~bobsled~~ Jamaica time!!!

Heading to Montego Bay tomorrow morning to celebrate our friend's Lezlie and Michael as they get married in paradise!

I've been waiting for this all summer!!! Cant wait to share my rastafarian adventure with you all! Yeah, mon! ;)

Bumpy Ride

2011-07-11T10:59:00.005-05:00

Back from Vegas. Feeling like a swollen zombie this morning. Thank God I do not have to work this month, because that is how long it's going to take me to recover...

Only kidding of course. I'll be back to chardonnay by the end of the day. ;)

I'll give you all my Vegas trip highlights when I can pry my swollen eyes open a little more. Here was the biggest highlight of them all though...

Surviving the flight home.

Seriously, this flight was so bad I literally thought that it was going down and that we were all going to die. I promise I am not exaggerating. I thought this was the end of the road for me.

After we took off, the pilot came on and announced that the flight was going to be a little bumpy due to some weather in the Las Vegas area. O. M. G. It was more than just a little weather and this was not your average turbulence. The plane was violently thrashing from left to right, the whole plane was shaking and we kept doing free falls (the kind that make your stomach go weak... also not comfortable to experience after a weekend in Vegas mind you). It was so bad at one point that people were screaming and I think I experienced a mild heart attack. I looked down and could see my heart thumping out of my chest and my hands shaking uncontrollably.

A side note: I am 100% not scared to fly. I love flying. I even applied to be a flight attendant at one point in my life.

This flight changed everything for me though. I might need tranquilizers the next time I get on a plane. Too make things even worse...I had to stop in Albuquerque and change planes. So after a flight from absolute hell I had to get right back on another one. I felt like kissing the ground in Dallas once I finally made it home.

More fun Vegas memories to come... ;)

My Wedding Dress/New York Trip!

2011-07-07T09:04:00.009-05:00

I hope everyone had a great 4th of July weekend! Mason and I went to Houston to hang out with his family and also see some of our friends... all in all a fun and restful weekend!

No need to unpack though because tomorrow I'm heading here...

with these fun ladies...

to celebrate our friend Jill's Bachelorette Party!

But I couldn't start another vacay without telling you about my last one!

Last week, I went to New York with these ladies...

(my mom, my sister, me, Mason's mom, Mason's grandmother) *and my godmother, but she wandered off during this pic.

Our Mission: Find my Wedding Dress!

We arrived on Sunday afternoon and after everyone checked into their hotel. I took a cab to my bestie Lauren's apartment in the Upper East Side. I wish I would have taken some pictures. Here apt is absolutely darling and when I arrived I was treated to some champagne and delish snackies!

That evening we went to a private dinner party at the apartment of wedding dress designer, Amsale. Very fab! She was so nice and I got to meet all of Lauren's work friends and the "stars" of Amsale Girls! It's funny to meet people after you have seen them on tv. Anyway, we watched the new Amsale Girls episode with everyone and had such a great time that we just couldn't let the night end so we continued the party at Posh - a gay bar in the Hell's Kitchen area! Side note: New York had just legalized gay marriage two days before so this place was totally ooc, but fun! We danced the night away.

Monday and Tuesday were filled doing touristy things such as: a walk through Central Park,

shopping,

a trip to the Metropolitan Museum to check out the Alexander McQueen exhibit (which was absolutely amazing btw),

eating (we found a cute little French restaurant called "Maison" for lunch :) ,

a trip to the New York Public Library, etc.

Tuesday evening was when the real fun went down! Wedding dress shopping time!! My entourage and I went to Amsale to try on wedding dresses with the help of my bridal consultant and MOH Lauren! She had dresses flagged and waiting for me to try on upon my arrival and had even gathered some of the new dresses fresh off the runway that are not even in stores yet. Such service! ;)

The first dress I tried on though was THE ONE! I had had my eye on it for a while now and it was just as beautiful on as it was in the picture! I wish I could show it off, but you'll have to wait a whole year to see it! So glad to scratch that wedding task off the list! Starting to feel more and more like a bride each day. Afterwards, we had a celebratory dinner at Ruby Foo's, an asian restaurant in the Broadway district. So yum and fun!

Anyway, we had an amazing time in New York and I was so glad to share the experience with the women in my life who mean the most!

Now on to the next adventure with some equally fab friends! Vegas here we come! :)

4 years...

2011-06-30T09:08:00.004-05:00

I just got back last night from a wonderful trip to New York and can't wait to tell you all about my fabulous adventure. I will definitely fill you in with all the details. Today, however, I am busy celebrating my FOUR year anniversary with Mason! These years have been the best years of my life with Mase by my side! Words just can't express...

Even more incredible is that our wedding is now exactly ONE year away! Everything is starting to come together and I can not wait to be married to my love. We have had such a great time being engaged these last 4 months and I look forward to the day that we are husband and wife. I love you Mason! Happy 4 years and many, many more!

Summer Hiatus

2011-06-20T08:53:00.006-05:00

You know what sucks? When you are just starting to enjoy your summer break and are getting used to sleeping in and then your school throws in a full week of training in the middle of June, just for fun. My school won some grant or something, so my principal decided we would use it by becoming an AVID campus and getting certified over the summer. I know, I know... it's a great thing for the school and I do get paid extra for going, so I will stop complaining I guess, blah.

I had a pretty nice little weekend. Friday, I had an all day pool party with some of the girls and I got absolutely burnt to a crisp, oops! Apparently sunscreen needs to be applied before the sun

melts your skin off... Then we reconvened for a girl's dinner. We went to Fireside Pies and halfway through enjoying my salad I realize that there is a dead fly on my plate. Tasty! So we

made out with some free apps, drinks, shots and I got a gift card for next time. Sometimes it pays to share your meal with a dead insect! ;)

Afterwards, we went to the grand opening of a new club in Dallas called Glass. It was a pretty good time, except that their A/C wasn't really doing the job for a hot summer's night of dancing, so we didn't stay too long!

Saturday, I had a full day of wedding dress appointments. My aunt came in town and she and my mom and I hit up a few boutiques. I found one dress that was pretty, but I'm holding out to see if I find my dream dress in New York next week. I feel certain that I will.

The rest of the weekend was just chill time, mentally preparing myself for training. I hope it is quick and painless. After that though my summer really kicks into high gear! New York, Houston, Vegas and Jamaica all within one month! Holy Smokes! Doesn't my principal know that he is interfering with my packing planning?! Rude! OK, folks have a happy Monday!

Amsale Girls

2011-06-13T16:17:00.004-05:00

Last night was the series premiere of Amsale Girls on the WE network!

Why was I so excited about another reality show about a bridal salon selling wedding gowns? I mean hasn't that already been done....and then done again some more. Well the reason I tuned in is because my best friend/college roomie/sorority sister (and my soon to be Maid of Honor) is one of the show's stars! Lauren is a bridal consultant at Amsale in New York. The show focuses on the bridal consultants who work at the store and follow them as they sell upscale gowns while working to meet sales goals and also goes a little into their personal lives as well. (Lauren is on far right in picture below).

Adding to my excitement, I am going up to New York in 2 weeks to maybe, possibly pick out my wedding dress from her store! So exciting! So if you're looking for another bridal show to tune into on a Sunday night def make sure to catch this one! It is a lot better than Say Yes to the Dress or any of the other shows! I may be just a tad bit biased though!

Congrats Lauren! Soo proud of you!

Falsies

2011-06-08T15:32:00.003-05:00

You never leave home without them.

Why should your car?

*This is an actual car that I spotted at the Uptown Walmart Grocery Store.

Dallas, keeping it classy.

Happy Hump Day!

Cheerleaders and other headaches...

2011-06-07T14:06:00.005-05:00

Ah, the first day of summer. Well, not quite. I did have to wake up at the crack of dawn this morning to go take the ESL certification exam. Did my school require this of me? No. The State of Texas? No. Do I just like racking up certifications for fun? No. Alas, my stupid teacher certification program is making me. Why? Because they are jerks. And the real kicker... if I don't pass it by August they are going to charge me $300 a month until I do pass it. Sooo ready to be done with this program. It's been one requirement after another that they keep tossing my way.

The test was muy dificil. Yes, dear reader, although I was blessed with some awesome spanglish skills, this test was no bueno - full of tricky situational questions and grammar rules... blah! Hopefully I passed. We'll see in about 3-5 days. After studying for this test though, I decided I have no desire whatsoever to enter grad school. My schooling days are over folks.

Oh and the testing site I went to was like checking into prison. I couldn't bring in anything, I had to be searched with a metal wand and then when I took my David Yurman bracelets off and set them on my desk because they kept clanking into the table, my proctor told me I wasn't allowed to take them off. Like I'm sure I had secret ESL test tips etched into the grooves of my bracelet. Psh.

So that was my morning in a nutshell. Let me tell you about yesterday...

Yesterday was a half-day at school for teachers to finish things up, turn in keys, textbooks, etc. I had my cheer girls come by to pick up their uniforms and practice outfits. Before they came, I asked last year's sponsor if she gave the girls her cell phone or anything for them to be able to contact her with questions, problems, etc. She said that she did. So against my better judgement, I gave 14 twelve year olds my cell phone # with strict instructions not to abuse it. So I'm sitting at home around 1:30pm trying to enjoy the start to my summer when ring, ring, ring...

Me: Hello?

Cheerleader #1: Ms. C?

Me: Yes

Cheerleader #1: I think I have the wrong uniform top, I think Cheerleader #2 has mine and I have hers.

Me: Ok, well why don't you just bring your top to camp in July and we will switch them out then. Will that work?

Cheerleader #1: Yes.

Me: Ok, great...bye

20 minutes later....ring, ring, ring...

Me: Hello?

Cheerleader #2: Ms. C?

Me: Yes

Cheerleader #2: I think Cheerleader #1 has my uniform top.

Me: Yes, I have already heard about it. Do you see C#1 very often?

Cheerleader #2: No

Me: Ok well you have two options. Either you two wait until July to switch tops or coordinate getting together and switching before then. Will that work?

Cheerleader #2: Ok

Me: Great, bye.

45 minutes later....ring, ring, ring...

Me: HELLO.

Cheerleader #1's dad: My daughter, Cheerleader #1, did not get the correct uniform. We think Cheerleader #2 has her top.

Me: Yes sir, I have already talked to both girls and they can either wait to switch out at camp or meet up and do it before then.

Cheerleader #1's dad: That is not acceptable. I will not tolerate my daughter's uniform at someone else's house.

Me: Um, ok, well I'll be happy to give you cheerleader #2's phone number so that you can make plans to swap tops.

Cheerleader #1's dad: Ok fine.

Me: Her number is ###-###-####.

Cheerleader #1's dad: We also think Cheerleader #3 might have another piece of my daughter's uniform.

Me: Ok, here is her phone number. ###-###-####.

Cheerleader #1's dad: Ok, thank you. We'll be in contact.

So apparently my new job for the summer is Cheerleader Crisis Hotline.

FML. WWSSD? What would Sue Sylvester do?

Happy first day of summer! ;)

Last Day

2011-06-02T20:59:00.003-05:00

Tomorrow is the last day of my first year of teaching.

Overall it was a great year.

I had a great team of teachers to work with.

I befriended many of my colleagues throughout the year.

My students TAKS test scores were pretty good.

I was asked to be the 7th grade cheer sponsor.

I was asked to be the new team leader of my team.

I just got an email today from our Asst. Principal asking if I would be apart of a committee next year to come up with ways of improving student discipline (chosen as one of only 6 teachers at my school).

I had some annoying students that I did not enjoy having in class.

But I had even more students that I did love having.

And best of all... I was rehired for next year! :)

So in a nutshell... I am very happy with my new chosen profession.

It was very much worth all of the early mornings,

the late night planning,

the whining kids

and the ton of paperwork.

The part I love the most is when my kids become big 7th graders next year, but still stop by my room in the morning for a hug or give me a smile and a wave in the hallway. :)

My first year was a great year.

Hoping for many more!

Engagement Pictures

2011-05-16T17:11:00.008-05:00

Over the weekend we got to celebrate our friend Adrian's 29th Birthday! We are so lucky to have met Adrian and her brand new hubs Sterling a few years ago, as they have become some of our closest Dallas friends!

We are equally lucky that Adrian is a talented photographer who so graciously offered to shoot our engagement photos for us yesterday evening. Here is a sneak peak of some of the amazing pictures she was able to capture!

I'm dying to see the rest, but wanted to go ahead and share her terrific work so far! :) Love you Adrian! Huge thanks from Mason and me!!!

www.tomatojuicephoto.com

Here's What You Missed...

2011-04-28T21:50:00.005-05:00

I am a bad blogger. This we know. So sorry. Here are some tidbits you should know to get all caught up.

*24 days left of school until SUMMER! Thank the Lord! My patience is wearing very thin these last few weeks of school.

*Mason and I went to Austin two weekends ago and we booked our venue and picked out a church! We will officially be getting married in Austin, TX next ♥June 30, 2012♥ on our 5 year anniversary!

* I also tried on wedding gowns for the first time while in Austin! Lots of pretty ones to choose from. I love the first one I tried on the best, but am going to go a few more places before making my big decision.

* I am completely overwhelmed by my summer plans. I will barely have any time to just relax. I am going to New York, Vegas and Jamaica as well as going to 3 weddings, being a bridesmaid, throwing showers, trying to plan my own wedding, going to mandatory week long school training, and going to two cheer camps...

* Oh yeah, did I mention I am now the new 7th grade cheerleading coach at my school! It'll be fun, but right now just feels like one more obligation...

* I am super excited about the Royal Wedding and am going to try to wake up early to catch the action!

* I'm desperately trying to lose like 8 lbs before summer starts... I'll let you know how it goes. I really just started on Monday....after eating half of a carrot cake that I made on Easter Sunday. Oops.

* Mason and I are having an Engagement Party on May 21st! So excited to kick off our wedding festivities!

Ok, I think you are all caught up now. Have a happy weekend!!

Wedding Daydreams

2011-04-10T20:52:00.003-05:00

I know it's early.

Ok, maybe it's really early! But already my thoughts are beginning to be consumed by everything wedding.

Our wedding is still over a year away, yet I find myself spending hours at a time creating my our wedding slideshow. Picking out linens for my our wedding reception and deciding on the perfect hairstyle for my our big day. Oops, I don't mean to be so me, me, me about everything, but I know Mason will be happy with whatever (excluding the DJ, cake flavors and what he has to wear - all of which he has very strong opinions about)...

Mason and I are going to Austin next weekend to put the deposit down on our reception venue, pick a church and I am also going to try on wedding dresses with my mom and godmother - just for fun for now, maybe... ;) but I can just see myself falling in love with the first dress I try on.

What do you all think about Reese's light pink dress?

Personally, I'm a big fan! I think it is absolutely gorgeous... and clearly I am a pink kind of a gal!

Ok, well I hope you all have a fantastic week and I'll try to clear my head of daydreams of tulle and champagne toasts! No promises though... ;)

Being engaged means.....

2011-03-28T18:16:00.004-05:00

.... Monday night DVR compromise.

Mason: Hey! Will you record Pawn Stars on the other tv at 9?

Me: Can't. I am already recording two shows at 9.

Mason: What are they?

Me: If you must know, "Heavy" and "Bethenney Ever After".

Mason: Oh God! That Bethenney show is crap! Like stuck on the bottom of your shoe dog crap! But at least you redeemed yourself with "Heavy".

Me: Oh and what masterpiece will you be recording on the other tv at 9?

Mason: "Southern Fried Stings"

Me: Wow.

He's just lucky Gossip Girl, 90210 and Bachelor are on hiatus or I'd be filling up both tv's! ;)

PS: Don't let Mase fool you. He has def caught an episode or two of Bethenney with me before!

Just One More Reason to Get Skinny...

2011-03-27T19:47:00.005-05:00

Ugh, Sunday night already?? This weekend felt insanely short! I had to go to a review session all day Saturday for an ESL exam that I have to take. Then today it was so dark and cold out that I slept half the day away. Sheesh. Oh well, with the passing of each week, we get one week closer to SUMMER! 10 more to go!

image source: weheartit

On Saturday afternoon the weather was absolutely perfect in Dallas! A crisp 85 degrees. So after my class, Mason and I decided to hit up Katy Trail (Dallas' trendiest trail to get your run on). We got about halfway down the trail and then noticed a mass of people standing around. Taking the Katy Trail trend-o-meter up one more notch, they have opened the Katy Trail Ice House - a bar/grill with lots of pinic tables, bean bag toss, etc so that if you don't want to go to KT to get your run on, you can go and get your buzz on.

image source: katy trail facebook page

Great! As if it wasn't already enough pressure to wear your cutest running outfit for fear of running into (literally) someone you know....now you will have to worry about a table full of friends catching a glimpse of you trying to shed some winter weight for bikini season.

What do we think Dallasites? Annoying or Awesome? I can't lie, it did look like a pretty good time. Maybe I'll have more than one reason to hit up the Katy Trail a little more often.

My Mad March

2011-03-20T20:46:00.009-05:00

March has been quite the whirlwind. ~~Maybe~~ ~~Probably~~ Definitely that's what happens when you start out the month in Vegas with 14 gals on mission to make sure that one of your besties has the BEST time ever before she takes the plunge into marriage! I also made sure to have the BEST time ever! Just practicing up for my own Bachelorette party... ;)

I can't tell you how bad that next Monday.... and Tuesday.... and even Wednesday hurt! Ugh! Luckily I just had to make it through one week to get to SPRING BREAK! Hallelujah! It couldn't have come at a better time!

I didn't waste anytime kicking off my Spring Break either. First I had to help a friend celebrate her 26th B-day (HBD Brittany)!!

Then, Mason and I hosted 4 of our friends who came in town to celebrate Dallas' version of St. Patrick's Day! Plenty of good GREEN fun to go around!

Once that party crew left, I had a few days to myself to catch up on errands that I had been neglecting such as getting my passport - which let me tell you is EXPENSIVE and a complete pain in the ass! I mean major! I spent Wednesday going to every federal building/court/post office in the land trying to get a copy of my LONG birth certificate which is different than your SHORT birth certificate which is needed in the state of Texas to get your passport! How rude. Anyway, that's done now and I will be free to flit around the world for the next 15 years, ha!

After all the business, I took the rest of my week and headed to Houston to spend some time with my H-town friends and also with Mason's fam!

In Houston, I celebrated St. Patty's Day AGAIN - but this time on the real day with some amigos!

Then later in the week Mason's parents had a fish fry that was quite the time!

But we're back in Dallas now. Back to school tomorrow. Major sad face! Oh and Mason left his car keys in Houston on accident so we're down to one car until they can be overnighted to him on Tuesday morning. Back to reality.... *sigh* Ugh, how many more weeks 'til Summer!?!?

Vegas, baby...

2011-03-03T21:00:00.004-06:00

Happy March!

To kick start my month I'm jetting off to the City of Sin with these lovely ladies

to celebrate Miss Adrian's last few days as a Bachelorette!

Can't wait for a fun weekend with my Dallas girls!

Happy Bachelorette Weekend Adrian!!! :)

The Proposal

2011-02-20T15:52:00.013-06:00

Mason and I have officially been engaged for 8 days now! It is still mind blowing to look down and see a sparkling ring on my finger and it definitely will not be getting old anytime soon! :) As promised, here is our engagement story...

On Thursday (Feb 10), Mason left Dallas to go on a business trip in San Antonio. I was pretty suspicious of his "business trip" since I have been on proposal-alert for the past few months, but nonetheless wished him a good trip and went to school as usual. Thursday after school I went for an impromptu happy hour with some teacher friends and gave Mason a call after work. He was anxious to know if I had been home yet. I had not, but thought something was fishy about him asking me if I had. My suspicions were confirmed when I got home and found this waiting on my bed for me...

A sweet note, a rose, a poem, a cupcake with a plastic ring on top and a plane ticket to Austin for Saturday! Yay!!!

I can not begin to tell you how slowly time passed from Thursday evening to Saturday afternoon waiting to meet Mason in Austin. It was agony! But Saturday finally came and Mason picked me up from the Austin airport a little before 3pm. In the front seat of his car, was a present that he told me I could open....

Inside it were a Wendy's Frosty and fries! During college, Mason and I took a class together (before we were dating) and he would often bring me a frosty and fries to class since their was a Wendy's right next to our classroom.

We soon arrived in downtown Austin and checked into the Omni hotel. Mason insisted on taking my bag up and going back to the car to get his suitcase separately. Once we were settled in the room he went back down for his and also brought up gift #2 which he told me to open.

Inside this bag was a small bottle of Patron tequila, two Longhorn shot glasses and a lime because during our Senior year of college Mason and I shared our first quick kiss after a shot of tequila during a night on 6th Street. :)

At around 5:30pm after we were dressed and ready. Mason told me we were going to go to campus because he was going to try to go by the Tower to get a copy of his transcript that he needed and he also told me I would be receiving my 3rd, but not final gift there as well. So with gift in tow and me hiking through the UT campus in some very large high heels, we made our way to the tower and sat down on a nearby bench. Before Mason let me open my 3rd present he said that he wanted to thank me for being so patient with him (my ring took a lot longer than expected to be made). I opened up the present and inside was the ring box, that when I opened was empty.

Then Mason pulled the ring out of his pocket, kneeled down and asked me to marry him! It was all kind of a blur once I saw the ring! :)

Our perfect little Longhorn proposal!

Afterwards, we went to the Stephen F. Austin Hotel to meet our families for celebratory drinks.

Then we went to the Vince Young Steakhouse (we were really on a roll with this Longhorn themed proposal, huh? ;) for dinner by ourselves.

Then after dinner we were going to meet what we thought were a few friends who were in town at a club called Speakeasy downtown! When we got there though it was a full blown party and Mason and I danced the night away with some of our closest friends! Such a great time!

Then to top off an already perfect weekend, Mason had planned a Sunday brunch at Z-Tejas (my favorite Austin restaurant) with both of our families and a few of our best friends - including a few surprise guests!

My best friend Lauren who flew in from New York and also my friends Caroline and Tara! Some of my other friends who could not make it sent gifts and cards to congratulate us! I didn't cry the night of our engagement, but I was a crying mess at brunch!

It was so special to have both family and close friends with us that day and I was so moved that Mason and my friends coordinated it all to surprise me. I am one lucky girl!

It was such a wonderful weekend, and next summer in June, Mason and I plan to get married in Austin! I can't wait! As for now, I can't stop staring at my ring, nor can I get over the fact that I am someone's fiancee! So incredible! Thanks to you all for your many congratulations! I can not wait to share all the details with you in the months to come! Save the Date 6.30.12!!! :)

Get Out the Champagne....

2011-02-14T16:48:00.005-06:00

...because this weekend...

Mason and I got ENGAGED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Stay tuned, engagement story to follow.

But here's a little eye candy for now.

Happy Valentine's Day, indeed! :)

Snow Day #3...

2011-02-03T12:07:00.004-06:00

This about sums it up....

*In case the type is too small:

Day 1: "SNOW! No school! No work! Sleds! Snowball fight! Take pictures! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG!"

Day 2: "Another snow day? That's cool, I guess. ...I wish I could get out of the driveway."

Day 3: "Where does it keep coming from? Why won't it melt? Why are my thoughts so LOUD!?!?! Has my house always made this much NOISE!?!"

Day 4: ........

Happy Groundhog Day!

2011-02-02T15:18:00.003-06:00

I am the type of person who remembers (and gets just a little excited) each year that Feb. 2 is Groundhog Day! Don't know why... I guess any day that has a theme attached to it is just more fun than your average run of the mill day. I'm sad to say that I have not seen one second of news coverage regarding our dear friend Phil today, however. This blizzard has totally been hogging all the news! Oh and it's college signing day.... boring! Anyway, so in case you need your Groundhog fix I am happy to report that Punxsutawney Phil woke up this morning and did not see his shadow!!!

Yay! An early spring for all! Err...or maybe not, not looking so likely as I sit here for the second day in a row snowed in. My life is starting to resemble Bill Murray's version of Groundhog Day. I wake up, find out I am snowed in and there is no school and then I eat, sleep, watch tv, repeat... I'm starting to get a little restless and am slightly ready (am I really saying this?) to go back to school and get back in the swing of things! Craziness. Anyway, hope that your G-day is going just swell!

FEB. is FAB!

2011-02-01T19:32:00.007-06:00

Happy first day of February! Every year I feel like I celebrate the arrival of this month, just because it means that January, the suckiest month of the year, is over! This January was no exception.... lots of cold weather and disappointment, but alas, it is time to move on! Yay! February has lots of fun things in store for me, like:

Super Bowl Weekend

It's in Dallas this year! So exciting! My friends and I are going to try to get into a party on Sat night. Very VIP! :) Then Sunday a good excuse to lounge around in sweats with friends whilst consuming large amounts of melted cheese! Mmmmm...

Claire Turn's 21!

My younger sister can whine no more.... the baby of the family will finally be 21! Yay for a family full of legal drinkers! Bottoms up! ;)

Valentine's Day

Eww gross, soo cheesy I know. I can't help it. I love V-Day! And I make it a point to wear as much pink and red as possible in the days leading up to it!

Crown Ball

A masquerade ball that is thrown each year to raise money towards leukemia research. Mason and I are helping "host" this event. So should be lots of fun again, as it has been in years past!

Adrian's Bridal Shower

Road tripping to Edmond, Oklahoma to see where my fav OU friend is from!

....and MAYBE some more exciting things! ;)

So much to be excited for! But Mother Nature went ahead and gave me even more to be excited about! I had a snow day from school today because of the ice storm we had this morning! AND we have tomorrow off too!!!!! YAY! See, I told you! February is already a thousand times better than January! Ok, well maybe I'll write more tomorrow since I have loads of free time right now! Stay warm friends!

Worst Vacay Ever!

2011-01-24T20:39:00.005-06:00

Hi again. I'll be real with you. I didn't really feel like blogging tonight. I mean I've got Bachelor, Gossip Girl & 90210 on dvr... but you know how if you don't blog for a while then all the stories you wanted to blog about seem like so long ago that you don't even bother telling their tales, because it's so over with and way too much effort to remember the details. Well I didn't want too much time to pass, because this terrible tale is one for the books. This is a story about the worst winter vacation ever. ever. EVER.

So let's go back in time to Wednesday, January 12. It was my last day of school before leaving for Mason's family ski trip. Not only Mason's fam, but also a lot of our friends were going on the trip, though they left earlier in the week than us and had been there since Tuesday. We would be joining them two days later (on Thurs). This all caused me a great deal of anxiety, because it is no fun to have to work for two whole days when you know people are already living it up, playing in the snow and having a ball of a time without you there. So Mason and I were so relieved for Wednesday night to arrive. We laid our vacation outfits out, set our alarms and went to bed early with visions of snowflakes dancing in our heads.

The next day, we woke up early, packed up all of our belongings, headed to DFW, parked, made it through security and checked in all with plenty of time to spare. All in time for our worst nightmare to come true.

They (American Airlines - the most evil airlines in all the land) called our names to the desk and said that they had overbooked the flight and WE out of EVERYONE would be bumped off the flight unless someone took their offer for free flight vouchers. No one did. So we waved goodbye to our flight, which carried our suitcases and plans of skiing out into the sunset. Well I didn't exactly wave. I cried hysterically and yelled at the agent telling her I demanded vouchers for our toothbrushes, makeup and clothing that is on it's way to Steamboat without us! You see, there is only one flight per day from DFW to Steamboat Springs. So we would have to wait until the following day (Friday) to get to go on vacation. Mason and I were livid. Talk about anxiety level overload. Mason and I walking back to our parked car was probably about the most pathetic thing you have ever seen. Major frowny faces. Mine dripping with running mascara.

So we did what any normal person would do in our situation... We looked for the nearest bar to drown our sorrows. We first tried a sushi place near our house. We got there too late. It had closed for the afternoon. Then we tried out another only to find out, after we had ordered, that they were out of sake. :( I'm telling you, the world was against us on that cold January day. We were a sad pair. Luckily the bar across the street was open and fully stocked. We spent the rest of our evening there, laughing (and occasionally crying - me, not Mason - someone had to keep it together) about our misfortune.

The next day we woke up at the same time, to board the same flight, in our same outfits as the day before and luckily we made it on this time. Instead of two days of skiing though we would only have one. The rest of the trip was fine. We enjoyed the time we spent in Steamboat - short though it was. But I think overall, this is a trip Mason and I would like to forget.

The only silver lining to this tale is that Mase and I each received $675 vouchers for flights. So at least we will be able to take another trip - this summer perhaps.

PS: I took hardly any pictures on this trip. Really, it was that bad. Not a lot of happy memories to look back on. 2011 has not been very fun thus far.... wah wah....

PPS: If you are new to my blog (I have over 100 followers now, YAY!), fear not... I am not always such a debbie downer.

Are You Ready For Some Bachelor?

2011-01-03T20:31:00.003-06:00

I haven't really tuned in to the past few Bachelor/Bachelorette seasons... the whole Vienna fiasco kind of turned me off to it for awhile...

But it's January, my regular shows haven't started back up yet and I could use a little cheese in my life. Not to mention I have a personal connection with return Bachelor Brad Womack. ;)

Ha, not really. Just ran into him in Austin in 2007 after his first round of Bachelor stardom. It's ok if you're a little jealous though. :) Ok, well I'm about to go view tonight's episode of what I'm sure promises to be the beginning of the "most shocking season in Bachelor history".

Happy Bachelor Monday! :)

A Year in Review - 2010

2011-01-02T16:24:00.010-06:00

2010 was definitely a year of many changes for me! A new career and a new lifestyle for starters. Here is a look back at some of the highlights that made 2010 a memorable year...

Mason and I kicked off 2010 at a friend's house party.

I started substitute teaching full-time. These were broke times for me as I transitioned into a new career in education.

In January, Mason caught the garter at our friend's Trevor & Jenn's wedding. A sign of things to come? Hopefully very soon! ;)

Dallas saw the most snow in it's history during February!! Burrrrr!

Went to New Orleans at the end of Feb. for Angie & Brady's wedding.

Pub crawls, more weddings, and lounging poolside filled my spring and summer days.

Mason and I celebrated 3 years of dating!

I started my very first year of teaching and learned to adjust my lifestyle for those early school mornings!

I entered my late 20's turning 26 in August! Yikes!

I spent Labor Day Weekend with some of my best friends in the world on the beaches of Tampa, FL!

TX/OU Weekend

A frigid family camping trip in South Texas during November. On this trip, Mason asked my dad for his blessing to marry me!!!

Mason turned 27!

A festive holiday season including a trip to the ICE Exhibit at the Gaylord Texan!

.....and the last big moment of 2010. I purchased, on my very own, a NEW CAR!!!! I had been driving the same car since I was 16 years old and finally took the plunge and upgraded to a 2010 Acura TSX! Love it! :) :)

Anyway, 2010 was pretty good to me! I am looking forward to seeing what is in store for me in 2011! I hope you all had a wonderful new year!!

My Christmas Loot!

2010-12-29T10:07:00.010-06:00

I'm not sure how I'll muster up the strength to leave my robe and cozy bed to go back to school in a week's time. I have gotten way too comfortable waking up around 9am and then lazily curling up with a book and some breakfast in bed. Oh the joys of being a teacher with some time off.

Anyway, Mason and I had a lovely Christmas. On Christmas Eve, we went to the Candlelight service at Marvin Methodist Church in Tyler and then afterwards over to my Aunt's house for some appetizers and wine.

{Mason, me, my brother Connor}

Being that currently there are no small children in my family, (my youngest cousin is 14) we took our time waking up, which is nice, but makes it not feel quite like Christmas morning. We did not even put out cookies for Santa this year. Sad. We quickly made up for this, however, with the excitement of opening up tons of presents.

Here are a few of my favorite gifts that I received:

1.) Hot pink and white houndstooth print scarf - Sample House (from Mom)

2.) Grey tee with sequined embellished sleeves - Gap (from Mom)

3.) Laura Bush book with book light (from my sister Claire)

4.) Champagne flutes - Crate & Barrel (Mason's mom gave me 4, my brother Connor gave me 2)

5.) Cookbook stand - Stein Mart (from Mom)

6.) Pink house shoes - Old Navy (from Santa/Mom)

7.) Gianni Binni metallic clutch - Dillard's (from Mom)

8.) White ski headband (from Mom)

9.) Tory Burch flats - Tory Burch (from Mason)

And that is only some of the fun stuff that I got this Christmas. I am a very lucky girl and am thankful to have such a generous and thoughtful family.

What was your favorite gift this Christmas?

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-23T08:46:00.003-06:00

I have so enjoyed my winter break thus far! Sleeping in late, working out, shopping, baking cookies, naps, falalala... I even finished reading the book "The Help" that I started back in August but just got around to finishing! It is soo good by the way. I also attempted to make Peppermint Bark. That was a disaster... I do not have the knack for melting chocolate apparently. I'll stick to baking.

So today, I'm packing up Santa's sleigh and heading down to Tyler with my mom to spend Christmas Eve and Christmas with the fam! Then on Christmas Day, Mason and I will drive to Houston to celebrate with his brother and parents!

Don't you just love the holidays!?

Anyway, hope you all have a very Merry Christmas! And a Happy New Year! But, I'll prob post again before that because hopefully, I'll have some news to share, maybe, possibly, fingers crossed! ;)

Dashing through December

2010-12-12T18:21:00.009-06:00

Oh my stars! Christmas is less than TWO weeks away!?!? Where did the time go? This little elf really needs to get it in gear if I'm going to make this a December to remember...

Here's what has been keeping me busy so far this month...

A fun holiday weekend out on the town with friends:

Winning 3rd Place in the Door Decorating contest at school!!!

We drew "Deck the Halls" as the theme for our door! :) I thought the roaring fire and the stockings hung by the chimney (with care) were a nice touch! ;) Here are some of Santa's little helpers (my 4th period class):

This weekend we attended Mason's company Christmas party at the Gaylord Texan Hotel and got to go to the Charlie Brown ICE exhibit!

The entire exhibit is carved out of ice and they give everyone stylish parkas to wear to keep warm - since the average temperature is about 8 degrees!!! Burrr!

They also have ice slides! Here is Mason going down one!

I have also been doing a little holiday shopping here and there at the malls mainly (gasp!). If you know me you know I HATE going to the mall during Christmas, especially on Saturdays, but since I don't have time during the week, I have had to bite the bullet and just go for it. Surprisingly it has not been as awful as I had imagined. Here is a pic of my sister Claire and I before journeying out to the Galleria yesterday.

As you can see there has been plenty keeping me busy this month! Only one more week left at school until I have two weeks off for Christmas break... hallelujah!

And the thing that is really helping me pass the time.....

... visions of sparkly diamonds dancing in my head! ;)

My Secret Santa Sucks...

2010-11-30T21:43:00.004-06:00

So at school this year, I decided to participate in our little Secret Santa gift exchange at school. If you chose to take part then you had to fill out a little fact sheet about yourself detailing all of your faves (fav snack, candle scent, things on your wish list, etc), and then draw someone's name to give gifts to. For the first two weeks you are supposed to leave little gifts for your S.S. every couple of days and then on the last day you reveal yourself and exchange a $15-$20 gift.

Many people told me not to participate due to some not so good gift-givers lurking in the halls. But I am, by nature, a participator. So I signed up.

Today my Secret Santa had this little joy delivered to my classroom:

That would be a floral, heart shaped matching ribbon necklace and earring set. Wow.

I laughed so hard I was in tears. I mean was this a practical joke? I hope so. God forbid someone actually think that this is fashionable or that I would actually consider wearing this? Geeeeezzzz! Stick to the list people!! It was filled out in detail for a reason! I'd have been happier with a Diet Dr. Pepper and some M&Ms! Can't wait to see what other fabulous gifts I have in store! I'll keep you posted! ;)

Sorry I sound like a Scrooge. Just thought this was too funny not to share! Bah Humbug! ;)

Thankful...

2010-11-30T21:10:00.005-06:00

Hey bloggies! I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! I know I did! A very MUCH needed 5 day weekend. It was rough going back to school this week with the tease of Christmas break dangling just 3 weeks away! But I'm back in the routine. Only 13 more days to go! Yippee!

Thanksgiving was a great time! Last year, Mason and I were in NYC celebrating Thanksgiving.

This year though, we were lucky enough to spend time with both of our families. First we headed out to Weatherford to visit Mason's entire family... seriously like 40 people were there

including these two cuties! :)

After we had stuffed ourselves silly, we went for seconds at my mom's house and had some more turkey!

It was a good time and I'm thankful that we were able to split our time with both families.

But once we got home, I wasted no time packing up my fall decor! I had my Christmas decorations unpacked and positioned by Thanksgiving night! I just love having the Christmas tree up! It makes the house so much prettier! ;)

I can't believe There are only 25 more days til' Christmas! Better get to shopping! Yikes!

Here's to hoping that this holiday season will be the most special one yet! :)

Mason Turns 27!

2010-11-18T18:27:00.006-06:00

Happy Belated to this boy

...who celebrated his 27th birthday yesterday!!

Well, not belated on my part, just a belated blog shout-out. I'm not that bad of a girlfriend! ;)

So happy to celebrate another milestone together!

Love you Mase!

PS: A big Happy Birthday to Cameron too! (Mason's twin brother!) ;)

Rushing the Holidays

2010-11-08T16:40:00.008-06:00

Don't you just hate that?

I don't! Well I used to, but for some reason this year I am like a giddy little kid waiting for Christmas to come! Could it have something to do with having a lengthy Christmas break right on the horizons? Perhaps. All I know is that I've caught the Christmas spirit early this year!

Look at my most recent purchases:

I even bought a red, ruffled coat for the season as well! I don't know what has come over me! I've also already purchased Christmas cards and gift bags for presents for my fellow teachers. And you better believe as soon as I take my last bite of turkey this Thanksgiving, I'll be busting

out the tinsel and stockings and decking the halls! ;)

Adding to my holiday craze, I am a member of the "Doo-Dah" committee at work (we do all the fun, social stuff for the teachers) and today we were planning events for every day in December! I am in charge of the "Ugly Christmas Sweater" contest! Easy, I'm already a pro at that! ;)

*sigh* I just love the holidays! Wishing these next two weeks would hurry on by so we can get to the good stuff! Anyone else have Christmas fever yet!?!

Someday I'll Look Back at This and Laugh

2010-11-07T19:25:00.003-06:00

Um, yeah.... so car troubles continue to plague me. I found a staple in one of my back tires, after realizing it was a little low. Well since I never have time to get things done, Mason and I both had just been filling it up with air in hopes of getting it patched when the weekend came. Ha, that kind of planning only works for normal people. Not me. Instead, I always draw the "worst case scenario" stick.

Let's rewind back to Friday afternoon, 11:14AM.

I had just dropped my kids off at lunch and had 30 minutes before I had to pick them up again. Well, since I never have time (plus I'm too lazy) to get to the grocery store, I had nothing for lunch... and no cash with which to buy some cafeteria food (darn). So I decided to run down the street QUICKLY to get Subway. Well upon arriving to my car, my tire was very low. Bordering flat. So I thought to myself, well, I'll just fill up my tire with some more air at the gas station right next to Subway. I even asked a fellow teacher who was outside if he thought I could drive on the tire. He said I should be fine as long as I drive slow. So since I'm such the adventurous, risk-taker, I climbed aboard and started my trek to the gas station. I tried to ignore the horrid sounds of my low-tire grinding against the pavement.

I reach my destination, climb out of my car and catch a nice whiff of burnt rubber!!! My tire is torn to shreds, ruined, can transport me no longer! It is now 11:20AM, I have to pick my kids up from lunch in 24 minutes and I am stuck at the gas station down the street.

So, I panic, call Mason and give him the play by play of how my life is over and my car will never drive again... oh and I'll probably be fired for leaving school and not picking my kids up on time. He agrees to leave work and help his damsel in distress.

Next step, call my school and try and get a ride back (first though, I had to google my school, because I didn't have the number in my phone - always prepared). I call the front office in tears and ask the front desk lady if she can find anyone to come pick me up from the gas station. She says not to worry, help is on the way.

It is now 11:34AM, and guess who got recruited to pick me up!?!?! MY FREAKING PRINCIPAL!!!! I mean seriously!?! Out of everyone in the whole school she asked my awkward, by-the-book, cheesy principal! Where were the other teacher's, custodians, kids with learner's permits, ANYONE!? I start bawling. Talk about the longest ride of my life. He was very nice about it while I, on the other hand, was absolutely mortified. I mean, I'm sure my principal was like, " hmm, Ms. C really knows how to keep it together in times of crisis." Um, yeah, fail.

So, it's 11:44AM (time to pick up the kiddos) and I'm still a wreck - I don't know why... I mean it really wasn't a big deal. I think I was just pissed about having another tire issue within two weeks of the last and just stressed (my Asst. Principal, Principal and Superintendent all stopped by my room to observe me earlier that morning -NO BIG DEAL). Anyway, I was in no condition to pick up my kids just yet, so I asked another teacher to pick them up, take them to the restroom and back to class while I composed myself. I, of course, had to walk past my class in the process. When I finally got it together and went back to the classroom my kids were very concerned asking if I had been fired. Ha! Good one kids. ;)

Anyway, Mason came to my rescue, took off the shredded tire, bought me a new one and returned my car to school in good shape. What would we do without men? ;)

Oh, first year of teaching memories. Another one for the books!

November 2010

2010-11-01T19:36:00.006-05:00

Made it! I am now safely on the other side of October, my hell month! I only have one more GT training class to go to and only a few more online assignments to submit and I am done! I will have my life back! I'm not sure what I will do with all of my free time... Read books, take up knitting, become a faithful blogger again!? Things are looking up! ;) Anyway, so let's see what's going to be awesome about November...

Nov. '10

Excited about:

Thanksgiving! Duh! ;)
Having lost a little bit of weight with zero working out. (Although now that I have made this public I will instantly gain 10 pounds).
Going to Lafayette/Baton Rouge with Mason again for an LSU game with some friends who live down there.
Getting 5 days off in a row for Turkey Day (Only 3 more weeks to go!!)
Daylight Savings Time! It is depressing when it is still pitch black when I arrive at school!
Decorating for Christmas at the end of the month! Is it too early to listen to Christmas music?

Dreading:

The rest of the UT football season (and the Cowboys)...we suck this year! :(

Things to celebrate this month:

Mason (and Cameron's) 27th birthday! My oh my!
Turkey Day!

Jamming out to:

Fav new song right now.... "Like a G6" - Far East Movement

Watching:

Same shows as October, but um did you SEE the Glee - Rocky Horror Picture Show episode! LOVE!!!

Reading:

Still no time for pleasure reading. *sigh* One day....

So that is the low down scoop for this month! Hope you all have a fabulous day-after Halloween! Happy November! :)

Hall-o-Weekend!

2010-10-31T20:14:00.008-05:00

Happy Halloween friends!

I hope you all have had a spooky weekend! Mason and I kept it pretty low key this weekend. I'm talking reallllyyyy. low. key. Half of our friends went to New Orleans this weekend for VooDoo Fest. The other half of our friends went to the Ghostland Observatory concert in Dallas - which was sold out by the time we jumped on the bandwagon. Thus, for the first time in 9 years, we did not dress up, we did not get all boozy at a bar, we did not get in a fight with a girl and lose our cell phones... we just sat at home and watched scary movies, like mature adults. Ok, maybe not mature. Mason got scared by some ghost tv show we were watching and refused to open the bedroom door to see why one of our lights in the living room was still on when he thought he turned it off! I'm glad I have him around to help with ghost patrol! ;)

Anyway, so we spent our afternoon carving a pumpkin!

Our masterpiece, except for the fact that our kitty is evil and is missing half of it's tail.

So we were doing a little drinking and carving... we had to do SOMETHING crazy this weekend! ;)

Anyway, after the pumpkin was carved and dinner was cooked, we baked some Halloween cookies and chowed down on the candy that was left over from the Trick or Treaters!

We had a lot leftover, since ZERO kids came to our door! RUDE! Oh well, more Kit Kat's for me...

There was also lots and lots of Vampire Cabernet involved as well!

All in all a pretty successful holiday and I don't even have a hangover to whine about! My very first grown-up Halloween! Let's hope it's another 9 years before it happens again... I kid, I kid! ;)

No Rest for the Weary

2010-10-24T19:36:00.006-05:00

This month has been just AWFUL! No more car drama, or any drama of any kind, really. Just totally worn out and drained by all of the teacher training sessions I have had to go to this month!

.....Gifted & Talented

.....Teaching English Language Learners

.....Keys to Quality Teaching

..... How To Have Two Margaritas/Chardonnays and Still Look Great at 6:30AM (hmm...so maybe that wasn't a training, but I have already mastered this skill ;)

I literally have trainings lasting until 7:30 or 8pm nearly every school night (I even had one all day on Saturday) <----RUDE! So usually, I get out of school, head straight to the training and then head home to plan some stuff for the next day or grade papers! I have ZERO personal time! :( This will get better though I know. Next week is my last week of awful trainings (oh and did I mention that nearly each training session has a project or homework assignment that goes along with it)..fun! I am soooo ready to take my first year "training wheels" off!

Don't get me wrong though, I do love my job! There just isn't enough time in the week to really do it perfectly or fit in everything I would want to do! Oh well, could be worse! Here is a pic of

me in action with some of my kiddos from my social studies class

we were in the library working on a Middle Eastern Scavenger Hunt!

Our whole 6th grade is going to the Dallas Museum of Art on Tuesday for a field trip! Ahh, might be scary! I'll report back to let you know how it goes! Hope you had a restful weekend, I sure didn't! Maybe one of these days... ;)

Just Another Manic Monday

2010-10-11T19:00:00.007-05:00

So today started out pretty well...not even very Monday-ish for a Monday! We were testing for the first half of school, then another teacher took over my tutoring session so I had ample time to get everything I needed to do done. So I journeyed home, and then the REAL fun began!

I got all the way home in my car, which is a TOTAL piece, by the way. I now listen to the Ticket (sports radio) because it is the only station my janky car can pick up these days, now that my iPOD charger is stuck forever inside my cassette player. YES MY CAR STILL HAS A CASSETTE PLAYER!

Anywho.... so I get all the way home and go to park in front of my casa, like I always do, because I'm lazy like that! I usually get great parking (a perk of a teacher's schedule), but not today! Every mexicano in town had their hoopty (ahem...not that I'm one to talk) lining the streets, because they are repainting our condo complex. So, pissed off, I U-turn to go park myself in the back in gated parking. I get to the gate, click my gate opener and nothing. No open saysame! My gate opener batteries are dead. Mega pissed off now, I U-turn back to the front and have to inconveniently back up into a spot down the street. POP!!!!! WHOOOOOSH!

That my friends is the sound of my tire hitting some metal wire protruding from the sidewalk and then the subsequent air rushing out of my tire. AWESOMEEEEE!! FML. Seriously?!??! SERIOUSLY!!! RED ALERT PISSED OFF!

So I go to call Mason and he knew exactly what I was talking about because he has been eyeing that piece of metal for years now thinking to himself, "man that would suck if someone popped their tire on this"...grrrreat!

So I know it sounds like I was Mexican bashing earlier, but I wasn't... me gusto todos los mexicanos! Especially because my MISA came to save the day ( my "Mexican In Shining Armor"). :) A painter from down the street helped me remove my car from the wire, jacked my car up and then was going to attach my spare tire. I mean it was the least he could do since he stole my parking spot and all. But guess what? You need a secret key to get the tire off the back of the car. A key I don't have!!! WHYYYYYYY MEEEE!? So the friendly latino wasted his time helping a cute, automobile-challenged blonde with a shitty car!

Anyway, Mason did the rest of the damage control when he got home and $108.25 later my car is as good as new. Ha, not really, but it'll drive.

So anyway, it's going to be a McDonald's for dinner, 2 (maybe 3) glasses of wine, Gossip Girl kinda night! Somebody's got a case of the Mondays!

October 2010

2010-10-04T20:38:00.003-05:00

Remember me? You probably don't. I have become a stranger to the blog world. BUT this weekend I had people coming out of the woodworks to tell me that I am slacking and that it makes them sad to have to sit in their cubicles without the enjoyment of being entertained daily by my ever-so deep ramblings. So, I'm back, by popular demand ;).... and I have SOOO much to catch you up on, it'll prob take a few posts, so I am going to start out slow with a little October preview. Patience people.

OCTOBER 2010

Excited about:

The cool crisp fall weather that looks like it is here to stay!!
My once-yearly official evaluation by my principal that happened last week that I did really well on! Phew! Glad it's over!
Having out my fall decorations! Halloween is one of my fav Holidays to decorate for (besides Christmas obv.)!
I had today off, because it was Fair Day for my kiddos! A MUCH needed day off!
Going to the State Fair of Texas next week with Mason! I didn't go today because I didn't want to run into any students on my day off!
Horror movies on TV this month! I loooove scary movies! :)

Dreading:

All the one million training's I am going to have to go to this month. I signed up for all my Gifted & Talented and ELL training's this month so I could just get them over with but that means having a class to attend after school several times a week and lots of online homework and lessons to submit! Blah! Can't wait for my first year to be OVER! ;)
The rest of the UT Football season! Not off to a good start with 2 losses already! Booo!
The fact that I have had a cold for over 3 weeks and it shows no signs of ever leaving!!! Or at least my disgusting cough seems to be here to stay! :(

Loving:

Butternut Squash soup! The "Newflower Market" grocery store by my house has the most delicioys BNS soup ever! I crave it every day and usually go buy some about every other day! :)
Pop-Chips (Salt & Pepper flavor) - a new semi-guilt free snack that I have been indulging in!
That it smelled like Christmas when I walked outside after a training tonight! :)

Things to Celebrate this Month:

Halloween! Duh! Best Holiday ever!!! :) No plans or costumes yet though... better get crackin' on that!
Columbus Day?

Reading:

No time for pleasure reading... I am having to do TWO book studies right now. One for our school and one for an online G&T training. Blah! School Overload!! I haven't even been keeping up with my US Weekly magazines. Sad.

Watching:

Gossip Girl
Glee
90210
Grey's
All Housewives shows.... Desperate, Real H. of DC, etc. (except not Atlanta, that cast sucks)
Teen Mom
Mad Men
I really don't have time for all these shows, but I make it work somehow! ;)

Jamming out to:

Currently nothing. My radio in my car has been broken for awhile so I was using my iPOD connector thingy that connects to my iPOD via a cassette tape wire device. Well it got stuck the other day so know all of my driving is in silence and I know none of the new jams. Sad.

Ok, so I know I have lots of catching up still to do, but it was a start! I'll write more soon!! TTYL! :)

XOXO

2010-09-13T21:41:00.005-05:00

Can I tell you how happy I am that Gossip Girl is back! I forgot how much I missed it over the summer!! And I also forgot all about how SCANDOLOUS the season ended! Dan & Georgina have a baby?? Chuck and Jenny!??! Followed by Chuck being stabbed in Amsterdam! OMFG indeed.

Anyway, so now that the gang is back, we can be stylishly amused by the latest in GG fashion! After all, there really is only one question to ask.

Are you a Serena....

or a Blair?

I think I lean more towards Blair's style myself! Oh to live a day in either of their closets... *sigh* a girl can dream!

XOXO!

Since You've I've Been Gone!

2010-09-12T15:51:00.007-05:00

Hi friends! I'm back after another blogging hiatus! I had hoped to get better at blogging during the school year, but alas, my efforts have failed. Anyway, since we last spoke I have....

*completed 3 weeks of school! Woohoo! How many more weeks 'til Christmas?? Oh... and my worst kid got transfered to the other 6th grade team, so life is good! ;)

*gotten my FIRST paycheck! Double Woohoo!

*thrown an engagement shower for my friend's Adrian and Sterling!

*kicked off UT football season! Hook 'em Horns!

* been asked to be a bridesmaid in my friend Jill's wedding next summer! :) Like our matching bridesmaid headbands? ;)

AND

*spent a fabulous Labor Day weekend in Tampa, FL vacationing with some of my best friends in the world! :)

It's been a busy couple of weeks, but I am getting back in the swing of things! I love the excitement of fall! Now if only the fall weather would hurry up! What have you all been up to??

I Can't Feel My Feet, but I Made It!

2010-08-29T17:28:00.006-05:00

Well, I survived my first week of school! It was a long, exhausting week, but I made it! My feet are super sore though (and I even limit myself to flats and 1 inch heels at school). Guess I'm not used to standing for 8 hours a day just yet.

Anyway, I am pretty happy with my classes. All of my kiddos are pretty good for the most part (so far)... I do have one kid who is kind of a jerk in my 7th period, but I will whip him into shape soon! :) My classes are very small too, which is really nice! Easier to control smaller classes and easier for me to help them in one on one situations! So pretty much everything is about as good as I could have hoped!

Pic of me on my VERY FIRST day of school! :)

Do I look like a teacher?

We had a Back-to-School Carnival on Saturday as well too, which we ~~were forced to~~ happily volunteered our time at.

I mean really, did they have to plan it for the FIRST week of school?! Oh well.

I already need a vacay! Luckily, I am going to Florida with some of my BFFs over Labor Day weekend! :) Thank God, much needed! Ok well, I just wanted to give you guys a quick update. I am really going to try to keep up with my blogging this school year! The first week was just too crazy though! I hope all of you that went back to school last week had great first weeks! :)

PS: HAPPY 26th BIRTHDAY to my bestie Lauren!!! Wish I was in NYC to celebrate with you! :)

First Day of School!

2010-08-22T16:57:00.011-05:00

AhhH! It's finally here!! The first day of school is TOMORROW!!! I've got my room set up, my lessons prepared, and my outfit for the first day hung on the door and ready to put on! I feel

like this day has been years in the making and I'm ready to just get on with it! Time to meet the kiddos and get started on a fun and successful first year! I really am not that nervous. I learned a lot during my classroom experience last semester, so I am not stressing. There are a few 2nd and 3rd year teachers that I know that are freaking out more than I am. Anyway, so now.... for the big reveal!! Here are some pictures of my classroom that I spent many dollars and many man hours perfecting!

But first, a few before pictures, so you can see what I had to work with:

I couldn't have done it without lots of help from my mom and Mason's mom who came up to school to help me. Here is Mason's mom helping me construct my word wall:

The finished product, WELCOME to Miss C's 6th Grade Math Class! :)

(Had to have some love for my Longhorns. I have the UT football schedule displayed in my room, each game UT wins they will get a reward...I am brainwashing them ;)

(Our school theme this year is "A League of Champions, Equipped for Exemplary". My champion wall is where I am going to hang classwork and also Benchmark scores, homework challenges, etc..)

And that's it! :) Soo excited to get started! Now I just have to try and get some sleep tonight!! I plan on watching Grease 1 (and maybe also 2). It is a tradition I have, that I started when I was in high school. I always watch them the night before school starts! Ok, well I will check back in soon to tell you all how it went! Wish me luck! :)

Say Hello (to school) and Wave Goodbye (to my life)!

2010-08-17T20:20:00.004-05:00

Welcome back to the life of a teacher! This week I headed back to my school for a week of MORE training and to finish up my classroom. I am absolutely exhausted. Going back to school for me means:

* Being abnormally tired most days!

* Less exciting dinners, because I am too lazy to cook anything fun or to plan out a good trip to the grocery store.

* A messy apartment.

* A DVR full of shows that I want to watch, but don't have the time for.

* No more reading for pleasure. It is all I can do to keep up with my US Weekly each week, which I make myself read, because really is life worth living if you don't know what crazy shenanigans Lindsay Lohan has pulled this week??

*And probably a few other things as well, but I can't remember them because back to school means memory loss for me! Too many things to think about and to try and remember!!

Ok, well that was about the best post I could muster up for today! But stay tuned this week for a Birthday Post (my B-day is tomorrow)!!!! Also, pictures of my nearly finished classroom! :)

Snapshot

2010-08-10T21:40:00.002-05:00

Our friend's, The Leatherwoods, just posted the professional pictures taken at their wedding that we attended in April. I don't even remember taking this, but it is a new fav... ♥

Meet the Teacher!

2010-08-09T20:57:00.005-05:00

Babbling Abby is hosting "Teacher Week" on her blog this week as a way for all the teacher bloggers out there to meet, share ideas, empathize about the end of summer, etc. Each day this week will be a new teacher topic. First up....

10 Things About Me as a Teacher...

1.) I am starting my VERY FIRST year of teaching! I will be working at a middle school that includes grades 6th through 8th and I will be teaching 6th grade math and 1 class of social studies!

2.) I did not major in Education. Instead I chose Business. I graduated. I hated Business. Marketing = Sales (who knew?). I hate sales. I have always loved math though, so I decided I would be a good math teacher!

3.) My dad always told me I should be a teacher because it was a stable career and they would always have a need for math teachers. I told him and anyone else that would listen that I would NEVER be a teacher!

4.) I decided to get my teaching certificate at probably the worst possible time ever - right as the economy went downhill and everyone was scrambling to find better, more stable career paths (i.e. teaching). It took me 1 year and 4 months to find a job, which doesn't seem like long now, but it felt like FOREVER at the time.

5.) I started subbing to get my foot in the door at the district I currently work at. I was given a long term subbing gig from this past Feb. - June and had a wonderful mentor who told the principal at least once every day that he should hire me and he finally did! :)

6.) The first day I ever subbed. I was a substitute for an 8th grade science class at the school that I currently teach at. I thought the school was so ghetto and said I would NEVER sub there again! (Do you see a reoccurring trend in my life?) It is a title one school (a low socio-economic school) that has plenty of students who come from less than perfect circumstances, but I eventually fell in LOVE with my school and LOVE being able to actually make a difference in these kids lives!

7.) My first taste of being a teacher was when I started proctoring the SAT exam to high school students. I loved being in charge in a classroom setting! This is what initially sparked my interest in becoming a teacher!

8.) I like teaching 6th grade, because at some point, once I have worked at my school for two more years, I will know every student on our campus (or at least most of them)!

9.) Our district requires us to get our Masters degree within 10 years of working for our district. They pay for us to do this. I am considering getting my Masters in Counseling.

10.) I would also maybe consider getting my degree in Administration, although I would only want to be an Assistant Principal! Principals have way to much to deal with. My grandfather (my dad's dad) was a principal, so maybe it's in the genes! We'll see...

*I could seriously write like 30 more "about me" teacher things! It's great to finally be in a profession that I just can't stop talking about! One of the best things about teaching, is the other teachers and the community that is created through the common bond of teaching! Get any two teachers together and I guarantee they will chat non-stop about their teacher experiences! Such a cool thing! :)

Only 2 more weeks until the FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL! Be sure and go to Babbling Abby this week to meet other fellow teachers! :)

We've Got the Beat

2010-08-09T18:23:00.004-05:00

Hello all! Happy Monday! So today's post is going to be a short and ~~sweet~~ to the point.

So remember when I told you that our upstairs "vampire" neighbors moved out a few weeks ago? Well apparently they wasted no time finding new tenants to sublet their place because we had new upstairs neighbors literally 24 hours later.

Who are these new neighbors? Frat boys. Frat boys who unloaded a keyboard piano out of their moving truck and upstairs. Jokingly we thought, oh great, they will probably be hosting band practice upstairs right above our bedroom. Ha, chuckle chuckle.

Well guess what? The jokes on us. While there is no band practice going on, there is loud music being played at ALL hours of the day and night. And not just any music. Obnoxious, bass thumping music that vibrates through the floorboards! I'm "enjoying" it right now as we speak...

So what's a gal to do in this scenario? Go upstairs, knock on the door and politely tell them to keep their volume to a minimum? Or maybe it's time for Mason and I to start looking at other living environments. One where we do not have upstairs or downstairs neighbors. Our lease is up in December. What would you all do if you found yourselves living amongst noisy neighbors??

Last Day Of Summer!

2010-08-06T08:56:00.005-05:00

We have a day off from training, so today is my Last Official Day of Summer!!!! Ahhh! Sad... But I hope to spend today reading, watching tv, napping and laying out! All my fav summer activities! :)

Tonight, we are going to the B.o.B. concert at House of Blues! So excited about that!

Yesterday, I won a door prize at one of my training sessions. Mainly just school supplies, but guess what else was in the bag!?

Smelly markers!!! I LOVE those! And I have never had a set of my own! My childhood dream fulfilled! ;) Mason was really excited about them too! We prob spent about 30 minutes smelling every marker!

Anndddd I told you that I had something exciting to tell you all about that happened last weekend...

On Sunday, Mason and I went to a jewelry store and tried on ENGAGEMENT RINGS!!!! Oh happy day!

We had so much fun! Seriously. Mason was caught saying, "This is fun!". (I know, I couldn't believe my ears!) It was even Mason's suggestion to go look, not mine! We spent 2 hours at the store learning all there is to know about diamonds, settings, bands, etc. I'm so glad we got to go look together because I ended up liking styles that I didn't even know I liked! Anyway, glad Mason has a good idea now of what I want... and now..... we wait! Ha, but hopefully not for TOO long! ;)

Hope you guys have a great weekend and a fun last day of summer if that's the case! :)

Back to School = $$$

2010-08-04T20:47:00.006-05:00

Today was my first day of New Teacher Camp! Pretty exciting stuff... ha, not really... I basically just sat in a room with other new 6th grade teachers from our district and discussed curriculum all. day. long. I had to sit through science and reading curriculum instruction too even though I am not going to be teaching either of those. Oh well. I get paid $200 a day to attend teacher training and at 7 days worth we are looking at a cool $1400 added to my Sept paycheck! I also get a $2000 signing bonus because I am teaching Math! Whoever said teachers make no money was oh so mistaken! I am about to be the richest I have ever been... by a LOT (sadly).

And because I am about to come out of my 3.5 years of near poverty, I have been a little loose with the old purse strings lately! I sooo deserve to though, especially after 8 months of being ridiculously frugal during my time spent subbing! Also, it is my birthday month people!! Only 2 more weeks until yours truly turns 26! Anyway, here are some online purchase I made this evening as a little pat on the back to myself for finally getting a job as a teacher:

I am always looking for some cute coverups and I found these on sale @ venus.com! Can't wait to get them in the mail! :)

1 day of training down, 6 more to go! Oh and if you are lucky, I'll let you know tomorrow about something REALLY exciting that happened over the weekend! :) I'll keep you in suspense!

Sweet Treat to Beat the Heat

2010-08-03T19:43:00.004-05:00

I have been a busy little bee working on my classroom these past two days! It is really starting to come together and is WAY cute! I mean, if I was a 6th grader I would totally hope to have me as their math teacher! ;) BIG THANKS to my mom and Mason's mom, Kim who helped me with my vision and stapled one million things to the walls! Can't wait to show you guys pictures, but not 'til it's completely finished! :)

The only obstacle we faced... THE HEAT! Guess how hot it was!?!? 108 yesterday and 106 today! WTF! That is insanity! But guess what else!?!? I found a tasty way to beat the heat!

Apparently if you go to a Wendy's restaurant and pay $1 dollar they will give you a frosty key chain thing and anytime you go to Wendy's for the REST of 2010 and buy anything at all off their menu you get a free FROSTY! So like 99 cents will buy you fries and a frosty or nuggets and a frosty or whatever your hearts content.

And don't worry about getting fat. They only give you a junior size one so you won't have to feel guilty! ;)

Frosty's are near and dear to Mason and I. Senior year of college (way before we started dating) we both took Psychology of Human Mating together, random I know.... Anyway, in an attempt to woo me, I suppose, Mason would always bring me a Wendy's Frosty to class and we would eat our tasty treats while ignoring the lecture and working a sudoku puzzle together. Mason sure knows how to win a girl's heart.... vanilla soft serve! ;)

Off to a good start!

2010-07-29T14:47:00.002-05:00

Well it's getting down to the wire and my Summer is practically over. Today I went up to my school to check on the status of my room and to do a little lesson planning with a few of the other math teachers. While I definitely have lots and lots to do before I will even be close to ready, there was a lot of good news today that got me excited to start the year. Such as:

*Our school district gave all employees a 1.5% pay raise for this school year. Not a ton, but better than no raise at all!

*Another 6th grade math teacher was hired and apparently she is young, blonde and slightly new to teaching! Yay! A potential buddy for next year! :)

*Our school replaced it's contract with Coca-Cola to one with Dr. Pepper! YES! Diet Dr. Pepper in the vending machines now! Yippee!

*I will have the same schedule as last year: teach 1st-5th period with 6th and 7th off! I love getting all of my teaching over with and having the rest of the day to relax/plan for the next day!

*My room is sparkling clean and ready for some serious decorating! :)

Umm think there were a few other things but those were my main moments of joy today!

Here's hoping that this will be an AWESOME school year! :)

Tommy's Digs

2010-07-28T09:28:00.004-05:00

Here are some pictures I found over the weekend of Tommy Hilfiger's totally lux apartment. He and his fam reside atop the iconic Plaza Hotel in NYC! Ugh, I die! I'm especially in looveeee with their bedroom! Way to go Tom. I can call you Tom right? ;)

source: Harper's Bazaar

Happy Hump Day! :)

Congrats Galore!

2010-07-26T09:54:00.003-05:00

Big Congrats to one of my very closest BFF's who got engaged over the weekend! So happy for you Jilly!!!

Congrats to Jill and Brian!

If anyone *cough, Mason, cough cough* wants to send some Bling my way I'd be just fine with that! Thanks! ;)

Heat wave!

2010-07-21T17:14:00.003-05:00

It is flipping HOT outside! I can not remember a more miserable summer! Maybe because in my old life, I was passing my summer hours sitting in a freezing cold office. Now I am a prisoner to my apartment because it is TOO HOT to step foot outside.

No more morning runs for me, my level of sweatiness was getting embarrassing...

No more laying out. In order to prevent a total meltdown I have to fully submerge my head under water and my hair is freshly highlighted...

No more pretty straight hair. It is too hot to stand under a blow dryer for the required 10 minutes, so my hair has a funky "I-don't-care-what-my hair-looks-like" wave look to it.

Summer has always been my favorite time of the year, but not in this heat (and I'm even a cold-natured person)! Bring it Fall, I'm ready!

Celebrate Good Times!

2010-07-19T09:49:00.005-05:00

This weekend we helped our friend Lezlie celebrate her 25th Bday! Friday night, we hung out at J Black's (Dallas' trendiest new bar ;)...

We seriously did not plan this color coordination, weird huh?

Me and some of the guys

Me with two of my best guy friends from college (shout out to John and Dustin!!) :)

Then on Saturday, we headed out to Lake Lewisville to continue the Bday festivities!

First thing was first, the Birthday Girl had to get "ICED"!

The whole party crew

All in all a fun weekend! Oh yeah, except on Saturday evening at 3AM Mason and I were awakened by a drunk driver crashing into a car on our street! It was parked right behind Mason's! His car ended up having a scratch on the bumper, but no big damage! The other car was not so lucky, especially since it was a hit and run! Craziness! Glad my car was parked in our gated parking section! Anyway... hope you all had a fun weekend too!

We Love Vampires (Unless They Live Above Us)

2010-07-16T07:36:00.004-05:00

Last night we were supposed to go to the horse races again with Adrian and Sterling, but they ended up canceling on us. Since we were all dressed up with nothing to do, we decided to go see a movie. We went to go see Eclipse (Mason's choice, surprisingly). We are both Team Edward! Another surprise, I soooo thought Mase would be Team Jacob! Guess he's a lover not a fighter! ;)

Anyway, movies are such a freaking rip off these days! Our tickets cost $12.50 a piece!!! $2.50 more than normal because the movie was showing on some special screen. Looked like the same 'ol $hit to me, but whatev. Later, I ventured to the concessions to get a cup of water. I was willing to pay a little extra for a large cup, but they informed me I'd be charged the regular price of a large drink ($5.50)... um no thanks, you can keep your magic water... I'll go hit up the water fountain! Anyway, the movie was pretty good... prob the best Twilight movie so far!

So you probably thought we left the vampires at the movie theatres. Wrong-o my friends! I have neglected to tell you that we have vampires that live above us! Here are the facts supporting our theory:

1.) They are ALWAYS home during the day. (What no jobs?)

2.) I have only actually seen them at night.

3.) They are up ALL night.

4.) They are super loud, dropping things (dead bodies?) and clomping around back and forth on their squeaky wooden floors.

We all know vampires don't sleep. So our hours don't really mesh! We have been kept up many a night by their stomping about. Probably practicing for an invasion against the Volturi or something. Anyway, so this morning around 4am, they were up and at 'em as usual and at around 7am it started to sound like they were dropping bowling bowls on the ground! Well Mason had had it, so what did he ever so maturely do? Get a golf club and bang it on our ceiling. Great, Mase! While your safe at work, it's my blood they'll be after!! But alas, after a quick glance outside our window what do we see? A moving van, carrying the contents of our vampire friend's home out and away, perhaps a few coffins (?), not sure... I missed that part! But the point is... no more 3am wakeups for us! Even though we are vampire-friendly (I already told you, we're on Team Edward), we value our sleep too much! See you later suckers! Hope you're headed somewhere where the sun don't shine!

Cribs: My Closet Edition :)

2010-07-15T14:54:00.008-05:00

Today I tackled my BIG summer project that I have been putting off for weeks...

Cleaning my closet!

It was getting pretty bad. Clothes were carelessly shoved into their sections, I was missing several items and I had to literally step on clothes lying in the floor to get to the back corners of my closet. It took me 4.5 hours to get it back in shape, but, alas... it is done!

BEFORE

AFTER

It's no Paris Hilton closet, but it's definitely getting closer! ;) And yes I do separate my clothes by color, then by shirt length (strapless, sleeveless, short sleeve, long sleeve). Alicia Silverstone's ("Cher's") closet in Clueless has always been my inspiration.

Now I just need to work on getting a revolving closet and a computer catalog system of my clothing... a girl can dream! But for now, time for a glass of wine to congratulate myself on a job well done!

3 More Weeks of Freedom

2010-07-14T14:48:00.003-05:00

Only 3 more weeks until I head on back to school. :( My new teacher training begins August 4th! This summer has really flown by! Part of me is sad to see it go, as I do quite enjoy sleeping in and doing whatever I please all day long. But another part of me is really ready to get on with it and get my first year of teaching out of the way. I am also very anxious to start getting my classroom ready! I love decorating, especially when the skies the limit in terms of glitter and sparkles! ;) But my main reason is that my "school supplies" are taking over our apartment.

Seriously, it is getting out of control! My place is being taken over by pink flamingos!! Can't wait to get the classroom all set up and show you all my tropical oasis! ;) Aloha!

And the Award goes to....

2010-07-12T09:25:00.005-05:00

Happy Monday morning! Let's kick off this week with an award ceremony shall we...

A Big Thanks to Casey @ Poodleism (who just happens to be a fellow Delta G sorority sister of mine) for bestowing this blogging award to me!

This award asks that you dig up 7 fascinating facts about yourself and then award this to 7 fab bloggers. Ok, so here goes...

1.) Whenever I watch a movie at home I turn the subtitle feature on. It's amazing how much better you understand what is going on in a movie when you can hear all the whispered lines and get the names, places, etc straight. Mason is annoyed by this. ;)

2.) I like to take naps. Beginning in high school and then through out college I would always come home from class and take a little snooze. 10 mins, 2 hours....didn't matter. As long as I got a little shut-eye here and there, I was refreshed. I still to this day take naps when I get home from work. My biggest fear is having to give up these cat naps someday when I have children... oh the horror!

3.) Speaking of cats.... Mason told me this weekend that for our anniversary he almost got me a kitten instead of the sunglasses. Part of me wishes he would have...

4.) ... but the logical part of me is glad he didn't. I am not really a fly by the seat of your pants kinda girl. I am a very careful and cautious decision maker. A Pros and Cons list maker. And while a sweet kitty to curl up with sounds divine, I can't help but think of the fur balls, the litter box, the vet bills, etc.

5.) My dad just asked me to be his friend on Facebook this morning. Seriously? Can we say "limited profile" much! ;)

6.) I got my toes painted turquoise at my last pedicure. It was the first time ever that I didn't go for either hot pink (for summer) or maroon (for fall/winter). Such the trendster I am! ;)

7.) My favorite household chore is dusting (with Pledge... Mmmm). My least favorite is cleaning the bath tub. I "Pledged" the whole house this weekend.... haven't quite gotten to those tubs yet though! ;)

Here are 7 FAB Bloggers worthy of this award:

Allison @ A Little Bit of Everything

Loren @ Rise To Meet

Little Miss Daisy @ this kind of love

Kelsey @ The Seattle Smiths

Ms. L @ Middle School Maven

Ms. Emily Ann @ My Heart Shaped Life

Melissa @ Sweet Melissa

Thanks again Casey!

Vintage Friday

2010-07-09T15:09:00.003-05:00

Hi friends! Happy Friday!

Don't tell anyone this... (especially NOT Mason), but I am starting to get a little bored sitting around at home all day. Probably because all of my friends are working, I have no pool to lounge by, and I have no money to go shopping with until September. *sigh*

Instead I have been finding all sorts of interesting things online... like this:

Posh Girl Vintage

...a website that sells all sorts of vintage clothing (including wedding dresses), purses, accesories, etc. Again, I have no money with which to purchase these lovely items, but it is still fun to look.

Hope your weekend is splendid! :)

Star Spangled Weekend!

2010-07-07T12:02:00.005-05:00

I'm baaack! Ok, so I've been back for a few days now, but seriously... this has been one of my toughest recoveries yet! I'm exhausted, I think there is something wrong with my rib cage (half of it feels detached, sick I know...), and I keep discovering new bruises on my body!

That can only mean one thing...

We had WAY too much fun in Austin this weekend! :)

Here are a few snapshots from our weekend adventure to the ATX:

Hope your 4th of July was WAY too much fun too! :)

Red, White, Blue Weekend

2010-07-02T07:30:00.004-05:00

Heading to Austin in just a few short hours for the weekend!

I hope you all have a fabulous 4th of July full of Red, White and Blue....

and fireworks too!

Happy Birthday America!

photo source: weheartit.com

Cheese, please!

2010-07-01T10:21:00.009-05:00

Mason and I had a great time celebrating our anniversary yesterday! Thank you guys for all of your sweet comments (especially the ones about my hair... ya'll are far too kind! ;).

It rained buckets in Dallas yesterday evening, but Mason and I still made it out to our dinner reservations at Simply Fondue! Mason had never had fondue before, so we decided it might be a fun, interactive date spot. I would probably not recommend it, however. It was just okay. The Melting Pot is a lot better, across the board, for fondue. Nonetheless, we still had a good time together!

Mason trying out the cheese fondue!

Grilling some of our meats and veggies

The best part of the meal by far, was dessert! We ordered the campfire fondue (mik chocolate mixed with marshmallows and graham crackers)! We even got to roast our marshmallows! :)

Then, after dinner came the really best part! PRESENTS!! :)

I got Mason a bunch of new shirts, but he really went all out!! He got me a new bottle of Valentino perfume... AND some Christian Dior sunglasses that I had been eyeing!!

Do you likey? They are a little bigger on my face than they looked when I tried them on at the store. So I'm still debating whether to keep them or exchange them for a less huge pair. What do you think?

I feel so lucky to have such a sweet and thoughtful boyfriend! One of my favorite parts of any holiday or occasion that we celebrate are exchanging cards! Mase is a great card-picker-outter and he always writes the sweetest messages inside! Yesterday's card alluded to some BIG moments to come in our future! I'm guessing that this will be our last anniversary celebrated as just boyfriend/girlfriend! Or at least let's hope so, haha! ;) Regardless, I'm glad to be with such a great man! What a great 3 years we have had!

♥ three ♥

2010-06-30T10:45:00.005-05:00

Today is me and Mason's 3 Year Anniversary!

I can't believe it's been that long....

Time flies when your in love....

.... and having fun!

I Love you so much Mason!

Can't wait to celebrate many, many more anniversaries together!

My Weekend (in vowels)

2010-06-27T20:45:00.008-05:00

Would you like to buy a vowel?

A glass of Chardonnay to start the weekend - Ok, so a glass of Chard kicks off most of my weekends, but this weekend my sweetie brought home a bottle from the store without even being asked to.

AND he brought home some scallops and bacon, so we could make bacon-wrapped scallops! A favorite meal in this house, that we don't indulge in too often! Delish!

Enchanted - Have you guys watched this movie?

It's about a fairy tale cast (Patrick Dempsey, Amy Adams and Susan Sarandon) uprooted from the comforts of story book land and placed in present day New York.

Definitely not an Academy Award winner, but a pretty cute movie if you have nothing better to do on a Sunday afternoon (as I clearly did not).

Edward Scissorhands - I have never seen this movie either! I DVRed it this afternoon though and plan to watch it tonight.

I am on a movie watching kick today I guess..

Iron burn - While ironing my outfit Saturday morning, I tried to go around the iron (instead of over) to straighten a crease (stupidly) and knicked my forearm against the scalding hot iron! :( Now I have an ugly looking burn mark on my arm! Eww!

OMG, Best Thing You Ever Put In Your Mouth! - I found a recipe on a fellow blogger's website that she got from The Pioneer Woman's website (Do you all follow her? I just found out about her blog... A-mazing!). Anyway, the recipe was for Chocolate Cobbler! Ugh, to die for! And I had all of the ingredients on hand so I decided to make a little dessert to go with dinner! Yes... 4th of July is coming up. Yes, I have a very important boat party to attend....BUT I have been a good girl and have been working out EVERY DAY, so a little Cobbler won't kill me! ;)

Here are some pics of the finished product...

Even more delicious with a side of vanilla ice cream! Yummm!

USA - lost! :(

Mason and I met a few peeps at a local bar to watch the US play Ghana...yawn! It was a pretty boring game.

I even went next door to Stein Mart (during the game) to kill some time (there weren't many options nearby). A dedicated soccer fan I am not. Players running back and forth for an hour and a half with only 2 goals being scored in that time is not my idea of entertainment. Please God do not let me have children who want to play soccer! ;)

So as you can tell, it was a pretty eventful weekend. Umm, not really.... but a fairly relaxing one at least! We need to save our energy for the 4th! Hope your weekend was Awesome, Exciting, Interesting, Outrageous and Unique! Ok, I'm beating this vowel themed post to death! I'll stop now. :) Adios friends!

Paris H.

2010-06-24T19:45:00.005-05:00

No, not Hilton! "Paris Hangover" by Kirsten Lobe, my latest summer read....

I've been growing a little tired of the same fashionista, socialite books that I usually read. I took a chance on this one, hoping it wouldn't be the same rich-girl tries to fall in love story and YAY.... finally something new with a twist. This book is trés chic! It's about a girl in her late 20's living in NYC with a fab job in fashion, a big-shot boyfriend and a seemingly flawless life, yet she yearns for adventure and decides to give up everything to live out her life-long dream of moving to Paris! This book is seriously so much fun and is a great beach read! I couldn't put it down! And though I've never had a huge desire to visit Paris, I'm dying to go now! Ooh, la, la!

And in case you were hoping for a little Paris Hilton action, there's something for you too. Here are some pictures from Miss Hilton's home:

Source: Esquire

Also, here is a clip of Paris giving a tour of her home to Access Hollywood last summer. LOVE her shoe closet! Barbie dolls in the bedroom, um not so much!

Ok, well that's enough Paris for one day! Enjoy! ;)

Unplanned Road trip

2010-06-21T17:05:00.006-05:00

Last Thursday, Mason and I found ourselves driving to Houston late at night for an impromptu road trip. Mason's good friend Chase's father died and the funeral was held on Friday in Mason's hometown. We weren't able to leave until really late on Thursday because Mase had tennis practice and then we set off on a long, not-so-fun adventure. We got pulled over, but luckily were only given a warning! Turns out the police officer grew up and went to school in the district that I currently teach at. After finding out that we had that in common we became best buds! :) Later, Mase and I stopped to get a late-night snack and the car in front of us in the drive-thru reversed and hit Mason's car! Luckily there was no damage since the car had a bike rack on the back of it! But this drive to Houston was becoming increasingly worse by the minute. Luckily there were no more incidents after that! And I guess also...luckily...the incidents turned out not that bad after all.

On Friday afternoon, we attended the funeral and then spent the rest of the evening (into the wee hours of the night) hanging out with Mason's friend Chase and all of their high school buddies. I'm glad that Mason has such a close-knit group of guy friends that he grew up with! They are always fun to hang out with... Never a dull moment for sure!Saturday morning I spent the ENTIRE day in the pool! I have not hung out in a pool for that long in quite some time! I just could not get enough of it for some reason! Usually I tend to stay away from chlorine, so that my blonde locks don't turn green, but this time I stayed in 'til my fingers were beyond prune looking! I guess it was my way of officially kicking off summer!

Anyway, we are back in Dallas now! I hope you all are enjoying the first day of summer!!

source: weheartit.com

Summer Lovin'

2010-06-16T10:38:00.007-05:00

No, not the kind that Sandy and Danny sang about in Grease! I'm talking about a list of the things that I am currently loving right this moment.

1. Black and White. It don't matter if you're black or white. In fact, I'd rather you be both. I seem to be drawn to black/white clothing this season. Especially in tribal or interesting patterns.

Black and White by CarolineUT18 featuring Ted Baker dresses

2. My New Hot Pink Heels. Even Barbie would be jealous of my new heels that I just purchased last week! I can't wait to pair them with some black & white ensembles for a surprising pop of color. (My camera is not doing them justice... they are like NEON hot pink)!

3. My MacBook Laptop. I have never owned a Mac, and I still don't, but my new school kindly issued me a school MacBook to use over the summer. I LOVE it. It is so much easier to use than a PC. Once you go Mac you never go back! :)

4. Pretzel M&M's. Just when I thought there was no way M&M could out-do themselves they go and do it again, but this time with a crunch! The center of these M&M's are pretzels blending a perfect mixture of salty and sweet! Mmmm...

5. Getting to do what I want, when I want! Oh the joys of being a teacher with summer off! :) Just had lunch with Mason at the Frisco Ballpark, now headed off to go lay out by the pool! I intend to enjoy every last minute of my short, but oh so sweet summer!

Gotta run! TTYL! :)

Splish, Splash, Rise and Shine

2010-06-13T20:12:00.004-05:00

Another sweltering weekend in Dallas, TX. The only way to beat the heat is to hang out in or around a pool. The sun is my best friend right now as I try and recover my splotchy tan job thanks to my most recent peeling session, ewww!

Anyway, so Saturday afternoon we made our way to our friend CJ's house for his annual pool party and also to watch the World Cup....well I was more interested in the pool part, but GO USA!! ;)

After we caught a few rays and mingled with friends we went to dinner at Manny's Mexican Restaurant, which I'm pretty sure neither Mason or I really remember much of. Those cocktails go straight to your head on 100 degree days!! Needless to say we were crashed out by 8PM! ;) Party. Animals.

So not too much going on this lazy Sunday, except my latest hobby... baking bread!!! Mason's mom gave me the starter mix to use to make my own batch of bread, so Mase and I went to the store today to get all of the ingredients. I mixed the starter with a few things and right now I am in the process (an 8-15 hour long process) of waiting for it to rise so that I can start baking!

I am obsessed right now! I literally go check it every 20 minutes to smell it's delicious sweet aroma and also to measure how much it has grown! It's like a science project! A yummy one at that! Tomorrow I actually get to bake it, and it's going to make 4 loaves, plus I'll still have the 1 cup starter amount left over so I can keep baking bread again and again! Hey, this just might turn into a business! ;) I'll let you know how the baking goes mañana! Hope you all had a good weekend!

Rewind: Mem Wknd 2010

2010-06-10T16:07:00.008-05:00

I forgot to discuss my Memorial Weekend with you guys, so I will now interrupt regular scheduled programming to give you the low down on my most recent mini-vacay!

Where did we go???

Well, of course. It's where we go for ALL major summer holidays (memorial wknd, 4th of july and labor day). Why? Because it's fun. Why else? Because our friends have a pretty sweet house on Lake Travis that we quite enjoy!

See what I mean.

Anyway, so Mase, Cameron and I drove down from Dallas Friday evening and met up at our friend Cody's house. Cody had a new little friend to introduce to us...

Meet Lucille! Awww, I want a puppy, or a kitty, or maybe just a fish...

Then we headed down to 6th street to relive our college glory days! I even had a jagger bomb...or 3, to get myself re-acquainted with my college self! Woohoo! Doesn't take much these days to get Sorority Girl Caroline back in action! ;)

So after a fun-filled evening downtown, we load the car and start heading to the lake. We stopped at HEB in route to the lake house for some essentials... tanning oil, rafts, a keg... But, we didn't get too far down the road, because Cameron's car died. :(

Party over... Lots of ice melting and a keg becoming luke warm. We managed to pull into a service station, but they said they wouldn't be able to look at it until Tuesday at the earliest. Bummer. So Mase and I ended up having to book an impromptu flight home in order to make it back to work. :(

Our weekend wasn't a total wash, however. We were able to get in two full days of lake fun.

And I'm still rocking a pretty sweet tan from the weekend, which is slowly starting to peel away... nonetheless... another successful summer lake weekend! :)

Wedding Bell Blues

2010-06-09T12:25:00.006-05:00

Ok, so remember a post I wrote a few months back, when I told you that I had selected my future wedding venue in Austin when I went there with my mom over Spring Break??

Ok, so the place where I was hoping to get married was this terrific, historical mansion, with a beautiful barn-like reception venue out back called the Barr Mansion. I absolutely loved it!

Such a unique, Austiny location.

Um, so guess what!?!?

It was struck by lightening last night and BURNED DOWN!!!!! To the ground!!!! Not the historical mansion part of it, but the barn/reception venue part!!

Are you kidding me?!?! Mason called me this morning to tell me the news! Is that supposed to be some sort of sign or omen for our future marriage?? Let's hope not.

The good news is that our wedding is a good two years out, because let's be honest...I'm still not even sporting any bling yet! So hopefully they had insurance and will be able to rebuild ASAP. Still so sad though! There were three couples that were supposed to get married there this week! Can you imagine?! Ugh and I feel so bad for the owner, we met with him when we took a tour and he was such a nice guy! Say prayers for the Barr Mansion! God works in mysterious ways!

101 Days of Subbing...

2010-06-03T19:18:00.004-05:00

Tomorrow is the last day of school!! :) I have been counting down to this day since the very beginning and now it is finally here! Counting down, not because I don't enjoy my job, but more so because I am just really ready to start the next school year fresh, on my own terms, in my own classroom (and of course as a salaried teacher ;). I'm tired of being the "sub". Tomorrow, also, will mark my 101st day of being a substitute teacher! Nothing could have prepared me more for my first year of teaching than my 101 days of subbing. It has been such an invaluable experience that has really shown me the ups and downs of teaching. I have had many heartfelt moments such as students writing me sweet notes or showering me with hugs in the hallway, and at the same time I sometimes have reoccurring nightmares about some of my not so angelic students! This job is definitely not one that can be left at the office. I am constantly thinking of my students or incidents that have happened at school. It has been such a huge change for me, coming from such a carefree, low-stress job. I wouldn't change it for the world though. So here's to my FINAL day as a substitute teacher! What an adventure it has been, and yet it is still only the beginning...

"A Horse Is A Horse..."

2010-06-02T20:54:00.006-05:00

"....Of course, Of course!" Green Acres? Mr. Ed? Anyone, anyone....Bueller....? ;)

Hi folks! Back at it after a busy weekend! I'll post on our memorial day adventures soon, but first a rewind back to last Thursday! We were invited by the newly engaged couple, Adrian and Sterling, to go to Lonestar Park for the horse races! Adrian's dad had a horse that was racing so we went out to place our bets and have some drinks!Mase and I at the track Adrian's dad's horse "Shaolin" Adrian and Sterling cheering on their horse!

Sadly, Shaolin did not deliver, (nor did the other 5 horses I bet on, because of their cute names) but we had a great time and I would definitely recommend heading out to the horse races for a good, clean WASPy day o' fun! :)

Bling Ch-Ching!

2010-05-26T20:32:00.005-05:00

BLING

On Monday night our good friends Adrian and Sterling got ENGAGED!!!

So very excited for them! They are definitely one of the most fun and down to earth couples that I know, even for Sooners! ;) Sterling did a great job on the proposal! A limo picked Adrian up at home and took her on a scavenger hunt ride through Dallas to all of their memorable date locations! The last stop was at the Mansion Hotel where Sterling had a hotel suite and a big fat diamond waiting for her! :) After dinner with their parents, we got to meet up with them for a champagne toast! So fun! Congrats you two!!

Oh and Adrian's new last name is going to be Faubel! To make the Korbel bottle of champagne I got them as a gift a little cuter, I spiced it up with her new moniker! Am I clever or what! I think so.... ;)

CH-CHING

No ring for me (yet... ;), but Tuesday was a pretty big day for me. I signed my contract with my school district making me an OFFICIAL teacher for next year! Woohoo! Pretty good week so far! If only tomorrow was Friday instead of Thursday. Second to last week of school is going SLOOOWWWWW!

Snakes on a Keyboard?

2010-05-20T19:39:00.006-05:00

So it's season finale season...and I must say that I am a little glad. It is getting hard for me to keep up with the one million shows that I watch each week. My DVR is jam packed with hours upon hours of reality drama and must see tv! Not to mention having my favorite show on tv creates an extra excuse for not taking my booty outside for a run, and at this point I do not need anymore excuses! Memorial Day is NEXT WEEK people! That means prancing around the lake in a bikini for three days in a row. Back to the broccoli... :(

Ok, so back to tv.....SPOILER ALERT!!!

Umm, did you WATCH the finale of Gossip Girl!?!?

Dan got Georgina knocked up!? Chuck and Jenny!? Blair and Chuck dunzo!? OMG indeed! I take it back... I will be missing that show this summer.

And are you guys watching The Hills? Spencer and Heidi (but more so Spencer) are INSANE!With his scream fests and magic crystals! It's about time for him to be commited I think...

In other insane news, this girl in my class today brought a snake to class! A REAL LIVE SNAKE!!! Then she took it out of it's container! Well I freaked out and told her to put it up and not take it out again. Then a kid came to my desk and tattled on her (yay for class goodie goodies) for taking it out again....AND she was letting it crawl all over her keyboard!! OMG!

Then when I went to handle the situation she was laughing hysterically because she lost the snake! A LOST SNAKE in the freaking computer lab!!! Great. She finally found it, but you better believe she will be enjoying the day in ISS (in school suspension) tomorrow for her shannanigans. Loose snakes are not something I tolerate or take lightly. Sheesh.... only 9 more days.... ;)

GREAT Weekend cancels out my BAD week!

2010-05-17T21:19:00.005-05:00

Back to the grind after a FAB weekend, and boy did I need it (more on that drama in just a few...)!

We kicked off the weekend by heading to Belton (45 mins north of Austin) to go see the ZZ TOP concert. Mase grew up with the drummer of ZZ TOP's twin sons so we got the hook up! Great seats, backstage passes, and Frank Beard (the drummer) autographed some of his drumsticks for us. Sweet! We stayed the night in Belton then headed back to D town Saturday afternoon.

Saturday night, we tried out a new restaurant/bar called J Black's on Henderson. They have one in Austin too and it is a nice addition to the Dallas nightlife scene. Approve.

Then Sunday, our friend Adrian and two of her guy friends, had a joint birthday party at this place called Backyard Beach Bar. Sand Volleyball, a pool AND a full bar... me likey! I think I found we're I'll be hanging out this summer! ;) Happy Birthday Adrian!!

It was a very eventful and fun weekend, which was definitely in order after the major stress week I had at school!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So Thursday morning I get to school early and the teacher I have been long-term subbing for (who is supposed to be on disability leave for the rest of the school year) shows up to my room unannounced, looks around and then demands to know where her personal things are. Umm, how about a nice to meet you or thanks for taking over my classes for me....

So then I get informed at the end of the day by our principal that she has come to reclaim her job and I am getting the boot because they have nowhere to put me. That means no job for me for the last 3 weeks of school. Not to mention I will not get to finish out the year with the kids who I have grown so close to! Major sads!

I did get lucky though. On Friday, a position opened up for me to sub in at our school as the Tech Computer Lab teacher for the rest of the year. I pretty much have no clue what I'm doing in there, but we're down to 13 more days so we'll survive. The important thing is that I will continue to be paid until the end of the year. I get a little sad though seeing my 6th graders in the hall, especially when they tell me how much they miss me!

So anyway, big time drama going on! Glad school is almost out, I need a break!

Blah Blah Blah

2010-05-11T16:31:00.004-05:00

I am a bad blogger. I am ashamed to have such a pretty new blog page and yet nothing to write about on it. :(

School is mentally draining. The kids are OOC, because summer is fast approaching. This makes me have to have the job of a police officer instead of a teacher while at school. This also makes me have ZERO creative juices for my blog once I come home.

Okay, stop...I'll think positively...

* Only 16 more days of school left! :)

* Only 17 more days til Memorial Weekend in Austin! :)

* I just bought some cute new DKNY glasses (that I use to watch tv at night :) from Target! They are tortoise shell. :)

* I also bought a CUTE new swimsuit coverup from Target as well! Go Target! :)

* GLEE is on tonight! :)

* Umm , that's all...

Happy Tuesday!

Flamingo Fab!

2010-05-04T17:25:00.006-05:00

Hello! Just got home from school where we hosted our annual "Dream Keeper's" Ceremony. Each teacher selected one student who they felt has done a really good job this year, overcome an obstacle or has in someway inspired their teacher and then those student's were honored at a ceremony. I selected my favorite student, Kenneth. :)

It was such a cute ceremony and I was so happy to meet his parents and see how proud they were of him! Such a feel good teacher moment, which are not very frequent as the kids are bouncing off of the walls waiting for summer.... and so are their teachers for that matter.

I still am not any closer to knowing what subject I will be teaching next year or which room will be mine, but I have already started accumulating things to decorate with for next year. I am seriously WAY too excited about this! You know how in college your dorm room is all cutesy, hot pink and glittery... then you grow up and enter the real world and you have to box up all of your sorority room decor. No? Well, that is exactly what happened to yours truly...

But now I have been blessed with the opportunity to decorate a whole room as cheesily as I want! Oh happy day! :) My theme for next year and prob for many years to come is going to be...
Pink flamingos/ beach/ luau / hot pink / lime green!! LOVE!! :)

Thank you Mason's mom who supplied my first two flamingo pieces (a cute standing flamingo) and a flamingo "Welcome" sign! :) I can't wait to start putting everything up!

But I'm WAY ready for summer, so all of that can wait! 22 School Days left...

Another Wedding Weekend

2010-04-27T20:51:00.006-05:00

I'm back... and once again, apologetic for my posting that is so few and far in between these days. I feel like all I can really focus on right now is the countdown to Summer. 27 more school days left, in case you were wondering! ;)

This weekend, Mason and I made a road trip to Houston to celebrate our friend's, Brian & Kendl who got married this past Saturday! Brian and Kendl both went to high school with Mase and asked Mason to be a groomsman, so we got to participate in all of the wedding festivities!

Here are some pics from the weekend:

Brian and Kendl's Rehearsal Dinner was "High School Sweethearts" themed. Complete with Prom pictures on the tables... nice. ;)

The Bride and Groom - Poor Kendl broke her foot two weeks before the wedding and had to hobble around on crutches at the R. Dinner - ugh, can you imagine!?

Mason with his Groomsmen GiftsMe and Mase

Hanging out at Rosenberg's finest watering hole, "Zee Bar"Pool SharksMase with Kendl & Brian (the wedding reception was held in a tent in Kendl's beautiful backyard)Me, Mason and Cameron

Best BudsAnyway, another fun weekend, but still a little exhausted from our travels. Ok, off to catch Glee and the new episode of The Hills, I'm purely tuning in these days just to see Heidi "Freak Show" Pratt! ;) Happy Tuesday!

Belated B-days & Pub Crawls

2010-04-20T19:06:00.008-05:00

Ahh! Going crazy over here! One more week until my 6th graders take their math TAKS exam! Pressure is on to squeeze every last ounce of math info into their brains before next Tuesday, and this little teacher is worn out! I've been so busy that I even forgot my birthday! Ha, yeah right....that'd never happen! I did forgot my poor little blog's birthday though! On Saturday, "Pink Champagne" turned 1! YAY!

I have really enjoyed sharing my stories, memories and thoughts with all of you over the last year! I hope to get better with my blogging and be able to post more consistently in the future. Thanks to all of you who read and comment though! I am so glad to know all of you! :)

While my blog was busy turning 1 on Saturday, I was busy with friends attending the Pub Crawl for Cancer in Uptown Dallas. I blogged about participating in this last year and it was just as fun this year! This time, we rotated from Uptown Bar & Grill to Lotus, to Gingerman, to Christie's, then back to Gingerman... chugging our pitchers of beer as we went along! Ugh, I'm still full from all of the beer! All in the name of charity though... ;)

Here are some pics from our day:

Team Pic - Meet the "Slurrrricanes"! We were the only team who got creative and tie-died our t-shirts! Everyone else was jealous! :)

An artsy shot (compliments of Adrian):

Me and Mase:

Beating Cameron in the Bouncy Run Challenge:

Fun times! In other news, I met with my district's personnel department last Thursday and learned all about my upcoming salary and benefits for next school year. I officially sign my contract on June 8!! Yay! :) :) :) Hope your weekends were great and that your weeks are going good too! TTYL!

Moth - 1, Caroline's Nose - 0

2010-04-13T20:15:00.003-05:00

Well, Mason is finally back from Vegas! Thank God! I am OVER the single girl lifestyle... buying my own drinks, hailing my own cabs, killing the bugs! Ugh! Sunday evening, I had just turned off all of the lights and was watching a little tv before going to bed, when I see a ginormous bug flying around the room. Right when I caught a glimpse of it and before I could do something about it, it flew into the fan, ricocheted off the fan and onto my head!! Then a full-on freak out ensued beginning with me throwing BOTH remote controls in the air (in an attempt to get the bug off of my head) and having them BOTH land on the bridge of my nose! It hurt SO BAD!!!! I thought I broke my nose. Then I started to cry, but whats the point!?!? No one there to comfort me. So instead I got up and took vengence on the moth. Oh, I didn't tell you it was just a moth? Well, it looked like a giant hornet in the shadows of the night! So I whacked it way hard into the wall and left it there for Mason to clean up! Hmph! Welcome home, honey! ;) I know, I know....sounds mean, but I was too busy deciding whether my nose was broken or not to scrape bug guts off of the wall... and when I called to whine to Mase he was drunk from his Sunday Funday at the pool....grrr! Anyway, he's back now, my own personal moth killer - every girl should have one! ;)

What A Blast!

2010-04-11T11:00:00.005-05:00

This morning was a little bittersweet for us Dallasites! Texas Stadium, previous home to the Dallas Cowboys, was blown up, to make way for highway construction, and is no longer.

Cowboys Owner, Jerry Jones, built Dallas a fancy schmancy beast of a stadium last year, but Texas Stadium is such a historically place, where the Cowboys brought home all 5 of their Super Bowl wins. Lots of memories in that place....

When I was in high school, my dance team got to perform during half-time at one of the pre-season games at Texas Stadium!!

Also, Mason and I were lucky enough to get tickets to the last home game to be played in the stadium during Dec. 2008.

Good times!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Anyway, the weekend has been pretty good. Mason is in Vegas with his high school buddies for yet ANOTHER bachelor party! I feel like he is at a bachelor party just about every other weekend. And they aren't even coming back til tomorrow evening. So I've had to find ways to occupy my time...

Friday night, was girl's night out with Lezlie, Kelli, Casey and Lindsay as we did a little bar hopping around uptown!

Saturday, my best friend from high school, Greg, took me out to dinner for sushi, Yum! :) Then we went bar hopping with some of our high school friends.

I'm ready for Mase to get home but I do enjoy using all 4 pillows and sleeping diagonally across the bed! ;) And also coming home late night and making a giant pot of mac and cheese and eating it all by myself! As they say, when the cat's away.... :)

I want to give a big thanks to everyone for all of the "Congrats" and nice words about my job offer this week! I still can't really believe it... but really, ya'll are the best! :) Have a lovely Sunday!

YESSSSS!!!!!!!! :)

2010-04-06T16:28:00.007-05:00

So........

Today the principal emailed me and asked if I'd meet him in his office during 7th period today. Butterflies in my stomach as I waited to be called in. Would it be good news? Bad news?

Well.........

It was GREAT news!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I got hired for next year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hallelujah!!!

So much stress has been lifted off of my shoulders!!! Am I still on a shoestring budget until my teacher's salary kicks in, in August? Yes. But there is a light at the end of the tunnel, which is better than staring into the great unknown! And I will be able to fully relax this summer knowing that I have a job awaiting! :) :)

Only one catch. He told me that the only position officially open right now (our teachers haven't turned in their job contracts for next year yet) is a 7th grade Language Arts (Reading/Writing) job. The teacher is retiring. So he asked me if I would be interested in filling that position. Well I'm no dummie! A job is a job, I'll take it. He told me that he'd rather me be a math teacher, but as of right now this is the only job available. But he plans to do some "re-shuffling" (as he called it) once he finds out about more positions opening up and he hopes to put me in a math position. Whatever, I'll teach anything as long as I am in the door and the paychecks start rolling in! :)

Anyway, so that is my HUGE news of the day! I haven't even told Mason yet, because he won't answer his phone at work!!! Ahhh! I'm so glad that my master plan of becoming a teacher actually worked. I wasn't sure it would, what with all the competition these days to land a job! But I am So So happy it did! Wish it wasn't a school night so I could celebrate with some champagne! :) Yippee!!

*This is all pending the green light from HR, of course, but things should be just fine there, so I'll let you know when I am officially hired! Then the celebrating can really begin! :)

Hoppy Easter!

2010-04-04T19:53:00.007-05:00

And we're back! It was a short trip to Tyler this weekend, but a very good one! Yesterday, Mason, my mom and I stopped in Canton, while in route to Tyler, and met my Aunt Laura to do a little shopping. It was Mason's first time to go to Canton! He did a pretty good job of walking around and shopping with three women for nearly 4 hours... very minimal complaining, I was so proud! ;)

It was a very successful trip, as well! My mom scored some chairs for her new kitchen table. I got two new dresses, an apron, a cute fridge magnet and a silver tray converted into a chalkboard that I am going to hang in the kitchen:

Probably shouldn't be spending much right now, but it felt great to shop after months of restriciting myself! I'll have to go back to being good for a while now, though.

Later that afternoon, while driving through Tyler, we saw the Easter Bunny....taking it easy before his big day:

Saturday evening, we went to El Charro's, an old mexican restaurant in Tyler that my family has been going to for years. Mason had never been there either, so we had to stop in to make for a complete trip to Tyler! :)

Today, we went to church and then had an Easter lunch at my aunts house. Ham, broccoli cheese casserole (yum, more broccoli ;), deviled eggs, etc... A splurge I know, back to veggies now that we are home!

Like my new Easter dress? It was one of my Canton purchases! Well, anyway, we are back in Dallas now, ~~ready~~ bracing ourselves for another week! 9 more weeks to go for me! Can I make it??

Hope your Easter weekend was a memorable one and that you were able to celebrate with loved ones! "Christ the Lord is Risen Again, Alleluia..."(my fav Easter song)! :)

A Good Friday Indeed...

2010-04-02T21:13:00.005-05:00

Today was a not just a good friday, it was great. A much, much needed break. Mason and I both had the day off of work, so we were able to go out for drinks after work on Thursday and stay up late watching trash tv...one of our fav things to do! ;) Then, thanks to a rainy start to the day we were able to sleep in nice and late this morning. And best of all I got a fresh head of highlights today! Extra blonde for spring...yum! :)

Tomorrow morning, Mason, my mom and I are headed to Tyler to spend Easter weekend with my extended family! Yay! I'm glad to leave the Dallas city limits, if only for two days! I still haven't picked out my Easter frock yet, though. Might have to just go with something that I have. Hope that you have a wonderful Easter weekend!! :)

Hope the Easter Bunny leaves you something special! :)

photo source

Bye bye margaritas...hellooo broccoli...

2010-03-29T16:27:00.005-05:00

As I sit here and post to you, I am snacking on pieces of broccoli and cauliflower. Bikini season is here and it's time to get serious. You should have seen my grocery cart last night. Very sparse and sad looking. Hopefully all these veggies will work their magic. Aside from my boring Sunday trip to the g-store, this weekend was pretty fun!

Friday night, a big group of some of my favorite gals and guys met up for dinner and drinks at Javiers!

Nothing like hanging out with a group of platinum blondes to let you know when it's time to get your highlights redone. ;) After dinner, I had to pass on the bar outing that followed, since I had school the next day. Boooo...

Saturday morning, I woke up bright and early to go to one of my last teaching certification classes. I hate when I have to wake up early on Saturdays! Makes it feel like another work day, especially while my friends are laying out by the pool.... :(

Saturday night, was pretty much a repeat of Friday except we dined at Cyclone Anaya's and then went to PM (the club at the Joule hotel) for some ~~drinks and dancing~~ cocktails and booty shaking! ;)

Sunday was a day of recovery and I busied myself with the transfering of all of my iTunes to my new iPOD nano I got for my birthday in August that I hadn't touched until now! It took forever, but it is up and running! I need to take it to Katy Trail for a spin sometime this week!

Anyway, so all in all it was a pretty good little weekend. Hope you all had great weekends as well.. now pardon me as I make my way back to the kitchen for seconds on broccoli! ;)

friday.

2010-03-26T16:26:00.002-05:00

Hi friends! Sorry that I have been such a blogger dud this week. I have just been busy, lazy and am still adjusting to the new daylight savings time and also my non-spring break schedule. The two combined have really messed with my sleep schedule! Anyway...

Wednesday I had my interview with the principal at my school! It went GREAT! I am usually so nervous about interviews, because I feel like I am not a great interviewer, but I had really good answers to all of his questions and he agreed. He told me that he did not have a definite math opening at this point in time, but that if he did then he and I would be having a much more serious conversation. Which means, if one opens up (which, fingers crossed, hopefully the teacher I am long-term subbing for wont be coming back), then I more or less will get the job! So let's hope it works out that way! Regardless, I was just so happy that it went so well! :)

In other school news, please keep the Burke family in your prayers... Officer Burke is our school police officer. He and his wife welcomed a baby girl into their family in December. I even got to meet their sweet baby one day when his wife brought her to school for a visit in February. On Wednesday afternoon, Officer Burke got a phone call at school from their babysitter informing him that their baby was not breathing. By the time he got home, the paramedics had not been able to revive their sweet little girl and she died...they think from SIDS. Such a tragedy!!! Such a reminder of how precious life is and how short it can be!

Ok so maybe I should have started with the bad news and then ended with the good so that this post wasn't such a downer...Oh well. I hope that you all have a great, relaxing weekend! XOXO!

Back to the Grind...

2010-03-22T21:00:00.003-05:00

Spring Break is over. *tear* I was absolutely dreading going back to school this morning. I'm not really sure why.... maybe I had gotten used to the freedom of waking up late, working out midday and taking cat naps every few hours. Oh the life... Such a tease, but the good news is that Summer is only 11 weeks away! YES!

So, today wasn't as bad as I thought it'd be. The kids seemed half asleep for most of the day so no problems there.... andddd I got an email from our principal after school today asking if I would meet him during 6th period on Wednesday for an INTERVIEW!!!! I'm not sure if there is an actual position available or not. It may just be a preliminary interview just to put me in the hiring pool, but whatev... I'll take it! So FINGERS CROSSED for that! I suck at interviewing, but feel like this one will go a lot more smoothly then most since I already know the principal and am pretty much already in place in their school. Hopefully!!

Next on the agenda, my butt is throbbing. TMI? Maybe so... but Mase and I just got back from our very first ever SPIN CLASS and my, oh my what a workout it was. I'm hoping that it is just the trick to slim down this booty for bikini season....again, fingers crossed! ;)

Finally, did you peeps know that Gossip Girl is back on?!?! I was casually perusing the tv lineup for this evening when I noticed that tonight's episode was NEW!! What!?! Have I missed any others or is tonight it's first night back? OMG! What's the deal GG!?! To broke to advertise your season return?? Let's hope not. Anyway, have to go catch up with Blair & Serena now! Tata for now! Hope your Monday was marvelous! :)

This May Seem Like I'm Bragging...It's Because I Am ;)

2010-03-18T09:06:00.005-05:00

Cee @ Curiosity passed this fun little award on to me last week sometime. Here's how it works: The Rules

1. List 6 things you are a master in

2. Pass it on to 6 bloggers you think are masters at friendship and make blogging awesome.

I am a master in:

1.) Telling and re-telling stories. I'm really good at remembering all of the details and funny anecdotes that happened when I re-tell a story. When someone else is telling a story that I already know I am chomping at the bit, because I know I would do a much better job of making the story funny. Mason likes to steal my thunder a lot though and tell MY stories. Ugh! Oh and if you missed an episode of your fav show, I'm really good at giving you a play by play of what happened! ;)

2.) Running in high heels. Must've developed this skill in college, but I am probably better at running in high heels than I am at walking in them. If we've got a long hike from the car to our final destination, you'll see me jogging over walking 9 times out of 10 (10 times out of 10 if it's cold outside). This has only backfired on me once and I have the scar to prove it! ;)

3.) Planning out outfits in advance/packing. As soon as I know about an upcoming event or trip I am immediately thinking about what I will wear. When going on vacay I make detailed lists of my daily outfits. If you're getting married next February...I've probably already picked out my dress to the rehearsal dinner!

4.) Step aerobics. Not going to lie. I am the girl at the front of the room with all of the moves. ;) I have stopped going to the step aerobics at my local gym because the class is far to easy. yawn...

5.) Putting on eyeliner. I probably started wearing eyeliner in 7th grade and haven't looked back since. I don't even need a mirror to apply it most times. ;)

6.) DVR fast forwarding. Mason relinquishes control of the remote whenever we are watching a recorded show bc I am awesome at fast forwarding through commercials and then stopping it exactly where the show picks up.

I now pass this on to:

1.) Allison @ A Little Bit of Everything
2.) Casey @ Sitting Pretty in the Big D
3.) Jessica @ A Few of My Favorite Things
4.) Leslie @ A Blonde Ambition
5.) Little Daisy May @ this kind of love
6.) Melissa @ Sweet Melissa

Happy March Madness day! Oh yeah, that's another thing I am good at...my March Madness bracket beats Mason's every year...haha sucker!! ;)

Going Green

2010-03-17T15:36:00.007-05:00

Happy St. Patrick's Day! I'm not doing much to celebrate the holiday today. In Dallas, the big St. Patty's Day festivities are always held on the Saturday before the actual St. Patrick's Day. There is always a parade down Greenville Avenue in the morning and then in the afternoon Greenville is shut down so that Dallas peeps can walk aimlessly to and from the different bars and pubs that line the area while still keeping a green beer in their hands at all times. Last Saturday, our friend Blake who lives off of Greenville held his annual St. Patty's day party at his house. Nothing like a theme party, live music, and an unlimited supply of green-hued beverages!Mason even bought a new shirt for the occasion: Sorry, Mase.... no gold here... Oh and there also were a few celeb spottings at the party we were at, including:

Former Bachelor and Dancing with the Stars contestant and newly married Melissa Rycroft

and Dallas Cowboys Wide Receiver, Miles Austin:

Throwing celebs in the mix always makes for a good time at a party! ;) Hope you're enjoying your St. Patricks Day and that you remembered to wear GREEN!! :)

Spring Breaks: Now and Then

2010-03-16T21:19:00.007-05:00

There is nothing quite like a week away from alarm clocks, responsibilites and routine! Oh Spring Break, how I have missed you these past 4 years! It is soo good to have you back in my life! Here is a look back at some of the more memorable Spring Breaks during my college days:

South Padre Island, TX with my Delta Gamma pledge sisters (2003)

Let's just say that sending a bunch of unchaperoned 18 year old sorority girls to a Mexican border town might not be the best idea in the world... but oh what fun we had!

Cruise to Cozumel, Cancun, Belize, and Honduras (2005)

Booze Cruisin' through Mexico with about 30 of my best guy and girl friends in college! Great times! :)

Hawaii (2006)

A whole week in Hawaii with Tara, Brittany and Courtney! Trip highlight: a cute surfer boy taught me how to surf! Oooh lala! ;) While the wild and crazy, booze-fueled Spring Break vacays may be over, I am still ever so thankful for a week to rest and catch up on things that I have been neglecting (work outs, laundry, etc...). I just got back in town from Austin today. My mom and I took a mini-road trip to the ATX from Sunday-Tuesday to visit my godmother and just hang out. We did accomplish one MAJOR thing though. I picked a venue for my future wedding!! I found a place online and we went to check it out, just to see what it looked like in person and also got a full tour as well as an idea of pricing and stuff. I LOVED it! I am so sold! So if all goes according to plan, Mase and I will be getting hitched in good 'ol Austin, TX! You'll have to wait to find out where and when! And again... I realize that I am being way overly prepared by even thinking about all of this since we are not engaged quite yet, but I still like to think ahead and have things planned out in my head. Anyway, I'm super excited!

Ok, well for those of you that are on Spring Break I hope your week is full of rest and relaxation... and for you non-teachers I wish you a speedy, easy week! :)

A Masterpiece!

2010-03-11T21:45:00.004-06:00

Are you all loving the new blog design!?!? I AM!!! Jamie did such an AMAZING job! I am beyond lucky to have won her blog makeover giveaway! If you are in the market for a blog re-vamp I would definitely recommend her! She is so easy to work with and the results are amazing! I can't stop opening my blog website and just staring at it! So pretty!!! :) Thanks Jamie!!! Tomorrow is the last day of school before SPRING BREAK!!! HALLELUJAH!

My Dream Wedding Gown(s)!

2010-03-10T19:56:00.007-06:00

I've decided to play along with this week's "Wishful Wednesday" topic over at The Seattle Smiths! Why? Because today's topic is one of my absolute favorite things to daydream about.... my future wedding gown! :) And Mason is away on business tonight so a little wedding dress browsing on the web won't hurt. Doesn't bother to just look right? ;) Shhh...don't tell!
Ok, so here goes... Oh and I couldn't narrow it down to just one... I mean who could?! So many pretty dresses to choose from! Here are some of my favs however...in no particular order... Okay I lied... that one is my fav! I want! I want! I want!!!

Other favs include:
Okay, well you get the idea. Something flowy, with some unique detailing! Can't wait to pick one out for real! Happy Wednesday!

YAYS and NAYS

2010-03-09T16:23:00.004-06:00

YAY :)
I won a blog giveaway yesterday from Jamie @ The Kubeczka Family for a free blog design! My little blog baby is getting a makeover! Yippee! Great timing too since my blog is quickly approaching it's 1 year birthday! :) Thanks Jamie! Can't wait to see the new look!

NAY :(
I had my worst day of school yet today. Like almost broke down in tears bad. Like had to call the assistant principal down to the classroom because the kids were being so awful bad. Don't worry though...I kept my composure...I'd never give those brats the pleasure of seeing me breakdown!Days like this really make you question your own sanity of deciding to become a teacher though, but I know tomorrow will be a better day...hopefully.

YAY :)
Yesterday a chiropractor came to school to give free massages to all the teachers. A pleasant surprise on a Monday morning! :)

NAY :(
I just ate the last Samoa Girl Scout cookie! :( One box is def not enough!!

YAY :)
3 more days of school 'til SPRING BREAK!!!! It can not get here any faster!!

Has Spring Sprung??

2010-03-07T09:29:00.004-06:00

It was soo nice in Dallas this weekend! Friday was the first day in fooorrreeevvverrrr that I didn't have to wear a coat and mittens during my early morning commute to work. I also didn't have to keep the heater on full blast during my drive. I only had it blasting on level one instead of my usual level four.....(can you tell that I really don't like to be cold while driving?) And lastly, but most exciting, after work I got to go for happy hour drinks and sit on a patio, outside, al fresco!! Greatness! Oh beaming rays of sunshine...how I have missed you! You could tell that all of my fellow Dallasites were just as thrilled with the warm weather as me, because there was not an empty patio seat in town! We can all finally come out of our caves and begin mingling again! :)And then, Saturday was another glorious day! I kept all of the doors opened to air out the apt. Then, I tackled some early spring cleaning, which our humble abode so desperately needed... Once the sun peeks through the windows it's a lot easier to see all the dustiness that has accumulated during the winter. Yucks! No worries though... we are all spick and span over here now and ready to bring in a marvelous spring season! But ummm, can we just skip spring and get to the 90 degree weather already?? No? Ok. But seriously, mother nature...you better not be playing games with us! If it starts snowing next week I am going to be beyond pissed! Got it? K, thanks! ;) 5 more days 'til SPRING BREAK!!!! YESSSSS! :)

image source: weheartit.com