Spring Breaks: Now and Then

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!

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)!

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

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??

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

Overworked and Underpaid (for real)

Hi! *Yawn* I'm tired. My new job is wearing me out. So... I thought my new job was just a "long-term sub" job and was going to be practically the same. Just me subbing in the same classroom for the rest of the year. Sounded easy enough, right? Ummm, not so much. Let me tell you about the extra tasks that are now assigned to me as a "long-term sub"... :

• Teaching 4 classes of math each day
• Teaching 1 social studies class on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday (ugh, I'm not a big S.S. fan, especially not 6th grade world geography S.S.)
• Teaching a math tutorial class on Tuesday and Thursday (with all the kids who failed their practice TAKS test, so that's approx 30 trouble makers all in one class... fun.)
• Tutoring on Tuesday afternoons (for which I do not get paid for, even though teachers get paid extra to do this, but since I am just a "sub" I can not get paid. But the principal encouraged me to do it, telling me that it would look good on my resume for next year...FINE.)
• Making lesson plans
• Grading papers
• Entering grades into the computer
• Keeping up with attendance, kids who are in ISS, assigning make-up work, keeping who was where and when straight
• Proctoring various tests (TAKS, benchmarks, etc)
• Disciplining children
• Calling parents
• Making copies
• Lamenating things (which, ok, fine...I secretly love and am in awe of the lamenation machine)
• Attending team meetings
• Staying late after school for math related activities
• Taking stuff home with me to grade/plan ahead with
• ETC, ETC

Ok, so I really am enjoying my new job and I am thankful to be able to get all of this really great experience that will hopefully land me a job at this school (or another in the district) next year. But really, I feel like a slave mule who is doing all of the work of a full-time salaried teacher while getting paid minimum wage. I usually have to stay after school to get everything done and often have to take things home. I would not mind doing any one of the things on the above list if I was getting paid a fair amount, but it kinda sucks taking on the full job of a teacher without a salary or benefits. *sigh* Come on August!!! Or atleast Spring Break! Only 6 more teaching days 'til my mini-vacay! Thank God! This is all to explain why I have been a little absent from my blog lately! Still trying to adjust to my new schedule and still squeeze in my daily vent therapy blog sessions! :)

In other, more fun news, Mason and I are about to attend an advance screening of Alice in Wonderland at the IMAX theatre! Yay! I'll let you know how it is! Thanks Adrian for hooking us up with free tix! :)

Happy Thursday! XOXO

Laissez Les Bon Temps Roule

Translation: "Let the good times roll!"... or so I learned this weekend while in New Orleans!

On Friday evening, Mase and I flew to New Orleans, checked into our hotel and then immediately headed to Bourbon Street to meet up with some friends who were in town for the wedding. Unfortunately, it was raining cats and dogs and I was caught sans umbrella wearing a silk dress. Nice. Oh well, if anything it just added to the fun, because after awhile no one cared how soaked we got as we wandered from bar to bar!
After testing out the night life on Bourbon, we gathered the troups and headed to the legendary Pat O'Brien's to meet up with the bride and groom (Angie & Brady) and the rest of the wedding party. Hurricanes for all! Very fitting of the weather, but eww I really hate Hurricanes... they taste like watered down kool-aid, in my opinion. Here are Mason and Cameron with Brady at Pat O's: After we had all had our fill of Hurricane's, it was time to upgrade to.... HAND GRENADES!!! :)

These may or may not have had a little everything to do with my murderous hangover on Saturday morning. Ugh... my body is getting too old for Bourbon Street....sad. So once we finally dragged ourselves out of bed, we walked to a restaurant called The Court of Two Sisters and had a very yummy brunch, complete with a jazz band performance....very authentic New Orleans! I would def recommend to anyone traveling to NOLA. After lunch, we walked around Bourbon for a little while before heading back to the hotel to nap/get ready. Later that evening, we went to celebrate Angie & Brady at their wedding ceremony held at a beautiful Catholic church in New Orleans. Then afterwards, walked on over to their reception, where we continued the party! Here we are with the beautiful bride and groom (Angie & Brady both went to college with us. Brady was also Mason's pledge brother.):After the reception was over, we followed the bride and groom out of the ballroom and then down the streets of New Orleans in a traditional wedding march! We had a fabulous time visiting the City of Sin of the South this weekend and wish Angie & Brady a lifetime of happiness! Maybe next time I'll pass on the hand grenades though.... Nah! You only live once, "laissez les bon temps roule"! ;)