where in the world.... asheville,north carolina

It's Wednesday and that means it's time the lovely Jess over at Classy in Philadelphia's , Where In The World Wednesday!

If you participate, please take the button the fabulous Feris made to use in your post!

The idea of WITWW is to post a picture of you in someplace in the world...it doesn't have to be somewhere foreign or tropical. Just a picture of you somewhere that you consider traveling.

this week i decided to go with asheville, north carolina. if i could move one place in the states, asheville would totally be in the top 3 places i would move to in seconds. i spent the summer of 2007 in asheville when i was teaching at an academic summer camp there. i had a blast in the city going to the amazing restaurants, pubs and just soaking up one of the most interesting cities. it is an interesting mix of backpacker/mountain with art/culture and just wonderful. so i recommend going, there is so much to do and nearby is tennessee and lots of hiking! and the great smoky national park too! so while i did some of that i'm just gonna focus on asheville!

welcome to asheville!

vance monument and the im pei building in the downtown

thomas wolfe's house - he wrote a few "fictional" novels about asheville based on life there

and my FAVORITE the biltmore, the largest private residence in the US. absolutely incredible

i was weird that summer and didn't take too many pictures.. boooo! but i loved living here and teaching about the culture of western north carolina and getting to visit so many cool places in the area!

so participate with where in the world wednesday and go over to Jess's blog - Classy in Philadelphia and share your link :)

i hear the call

mondaaaaay.

ahh, that's how i feel today. and it is a 4 day week, which is amazing. and then i have 10 glorious days off for spring break. yay for that. i must say having a week off this time of year makes me love being a teacher sometimes. actually i love being a teacher most days. i love what i am doing, and that i get to love history and hopefully i'm helping my students understand and have an appreciation for and maybe a love history too.

anyway, it was a raaaainy day here in jersey. like super rainy. i'm hoping april won't be as rainy as march. and wtf, already the end of march. like where does time go? and the end of 3rd quarter is almost upon is? i have 52 more days of school this year. craazy!

i'm exited for the virginia adventure for spring break. i'm not sure what we're doing. going down to richmond to see my sister and doing monticello (tj's home) on easter and i'm also getting to see my pen-pal holly and her adorable daughter mia for the first time! and then some civil war virginia history which i am SOOOOO excited for! especially since i am teaching the civil war right now. is it sad i get excited to travel and take pictures to show my students when we talk about something in class. yes, i will admit i am a dork. and i kinda love history. a lot.

and omg grading. i had projects due in all my classes last week. so today i've graded about 85/100 photography projects on the civil war and civil rights movements. also graded 40 1960s politics quizes and 60 civil war quizes. plus some homework. can you say last week of the quarter grading frenzy. and then i'll have 60 tests after thursday too.

and saturday i was sorority girltastic. it was the nj zeta day. so all the zeta's in nj, both college and alum met. and it was a blast. it was awesome to meet our national president and we had the sweetest girl from louisiana who is up in long island for a few months at our table and an adorable women was recognized for 50 years of zeta. and i ran into a few girls from my chapter who were seniors when i was a new member. so it was a great day and reminded me why i love zeta and that it is great to be involved as an alum!

and now i'm sick... boooo. i have a cold, which isn't too bad, but uugh!

how was everyone's weekend? anything fun?

oh and i almost forgot!!! i'll be seeing the eagles, keith urban and the dixie chicks in june!!!! eeeeeee!! sooo excited for that. i got tickets this morning for my parents, sister and i!

one year

last year i was boarding a plane in shannon and flying back to new jersey on march 24th. i have been back in the states for a year now and what a year it has been. the last 365 days have been pretty incredible and i've decided to write a post summing up the fabulousness of the last year rather than a post about the sadness of missing ireland.

quick note for all the new readers - i lived in cork, ireland from september 2007 to march 2009 and had an absolutely amazing time doing my masters in history, working & traveling.

so since i landed at newark liberty international airport at 11.30 am i have:

-bought a new car - colby my 2009 chevy cobalt who i just hit 18,000 miles on yesterday

-moved to connecticut with my college roomie 5 days later

-started teaching middle school students about whaling, maritime history and working on a ship and loving it

-my college loves and i reuniting in providence/boston and ct multiple times

-making some bad decisions with gator...

- cheering on one of my best friends as she ran the boston marathon

-danish ghosts at work

-seeing a good friend of mine catie and going to a bruce springsteen concert!

-crazy drinking in connecticut. between margarita nights, saturday nights and parties...

-applying to a million and seven teaching jobs

-helping amy coach rowing

-being super sad to leave connecticut

-home in jersey for a few days

-some kitty drama with scarlett being eaten and lillian being attacked but surviving and putting alice/trixie to sleep

-moving down to nova/dc for the summer to work at a high school leadership conference

-having the best summer roomie, crazy 7-11 runs, lots of tswift/kclarkson/mcyrus,

-team westpark and the happy hours

-dating the boy for the summer

- fun times with high school students in dc/nyc for 7 weeks

-getting a teaching job in nj

-enjoying the month of august in the jersey shore,hiking,lots of pa, nyc

- a crewie reunion in maryland

-joining my sorority alumni chapter

-a crazy fall pretty much spent at school but loving my co-workers and some great students

-seeing my first crew regatta in 2 years

- a redic halloween in connecticut

-going back to wac/maryland for the first time since graduation

-meeting friends in nyc whenever i want

- a first thanksgiving with my family in a long time and the parade in nyc

-started coaching the ski team

-a nice christmas with my family

-a quiet nye with erin

-started seeing matt

-seeing friends for dinner

- still loving my teaching job

-an awesome trip to kansas to see patricia

-waaaay too much snow

- putting puppy to sleep :(

-riverdance!

and here i am today... it was a pretty awesome year, full of the unexpected. because when my plane landed i knew i was moving to connecticut until june and then the unknown. and i have been so lucky that it was a positive year and so many incredible things have happened. i've met so many amazing people, made new friends and had a few crazy adventures.

my heart will always be in ireland and i am so glad that i had the opportunity to live there, but i really have been happy with my decision to move back to the states and everything i've been able to do this year.

where in the world.... cork, ireland

It's Wednesday and that means it's time the lovely Jess over at Classy in Philadelphia's , Where In The World Wednesday!

If you participate, please take the button the fabulous Feris made to use in your post!

The idea of WITWW is to post a picture of you in someplace in the world...it doesn't have to be somewhere foreign or tropical. Just a picture of you somewhere that you consider traveling.

this week i'm back in cork, showing you some of my daily life there. last year on march 24th i left ireland to move back to the states, so the pictures this week are of my houses in ireland and me doing things i always did. i was super lucky to live in ireland for 20 months this time.

first house - fern lodge 2nd house - st. mary's

i couldn't find a picture of the 3rd house - but here was a view from the back porch

me busily working on my thesis! at work one day

so participate with where in the world wednesday and go over to Jess's blog - Classy in Philadelphia and share your link :)

riverdance

ummm, this pretty much sums up my reaction as well to kansas loosing....

i had ku going all the way and beating west va in the championship game. and nova and kansas state in the final 4 as well. and well i didn't have a great basketball weekend... i was 2o of the first 32 games and 8 of the second 16 games. so i still have a chance to win a few more games, but uugh, kansas loosing... and i really can't talk because carolina didn't even make it.

the weekend was gorgeous! it was low 70s and sunnnnny. but today was gross and just yucky. and now i can't wait for nice weather to be here. but spring is finally here!

and over the weekend i went into the city to see riverdance! it was my present to myself for being back in the states a year and it was incredible! the dancing, i just couldn't take my eyes off of their legs. i love the music and i was so glad i got to go see it. my friend erin went with me and we had a fun afternoon in the city. and my friend from hs suz saw i was in the city via twitter and so we met up at my favorite irish pub for a pint to catch up. and then i was on my way to pennsylvania to see matt. so it was a fabulous day!

erin and i at riverdance

the view of the stage - we were about 40 rows back

RIVERDANCE!! the farewell tour

and now i have a rainy week and 8 more days of school until spring break. and a LOT to get done. and work has been rough recently. the nj governor just cut $1 billion in state aid to public school and my school needs to cut $1.1 million. as of now i still have my job, but i'm still keeping my fingers crossed because who knows, especially if the budget doesn't pass. they told 10 teachers today as well as 6 in january. so just waiting until may to know for sure, which is hard.

how was your weekend?

where in the world... irish st. patrick's day

It's Wednesday and that means it's time the lovely Jess over at Classy in Philadelphia's , Where In The World Wednesday!

If you participate, please take the button the fabulous Feris made to use in your post!

The idea of WITWW is to post a picture of you in someplace in the world...it doesn't have to be somewhere foreign or tropical. Just a picture of you somewhere that you consider traveling

so this week in honor of st. patrick's day, i chose to use do my witww in cork celebrating st. patrick's day! i was there both 2008/2009 for st. patrick's day and both were fun. i didn't take many pictures though. oops! (which is unusual for me!) 2008 i went to the parade with kara and then for a few pints at our favorite pub in the afternoon. in 2009 i went to the parade with brenda and then because it was gorgeous! day we went to the park and then cooked dinner and then went on a mission to find a trad session (most are on in the day we later learned) and we found one and i enjoyed a few pints of beamish.

photo i had taken march 2009 in dublin at guinness factory

my fav park - fitzgerald park. i really miss going there.

it was a GORGEOUS day for march 2009.

brenda and i after the parade - enjoying ice cream

cork parade from 2009

cork parade from 2008

so participate with where in the world wednesday and go over to Jess's blog - Classy in Philadelphia and share your link :)

pupppy

sad day today. my silly puppy who was almost 13 was put to sleep today. she had been so healthy for much of her life and for a golden retriever almost 13 is pretty old. and last weekend she wasn't herself. she is old but honestly still thought she was a puppy. she still loved to be outside and go on walks. she was a barky and loved to sit next to you when you ate. and if you didn't pet her when you walked in the door, boy were you in trouble! and she loved it when i came home from being away from a long time. so last weekend she stopped eating, which was so unlike her. so monday she went to the vet and on thursday she was diagnosed with liver/kidney cancer. and today it was time. but she wasn't doing well and she was a fabulous dog. we got her the day after my 12th birthday in july 1997.

i was looking for some photos, but i can't find any good ones. and i'll have to scan some good ones from when she was a puppy.

brandy and lillian

opening up her christmas present in 2007

puppppy and brother probably in 1998

sister and brandy talking to each other christmas 08

it has been a rough year for animals in our house. when i came back from ireland last year we had 6 cats and a dog, and we are down to 3 cats now.

at least it was a gorgeous sunny day today!

cheating professions

so i was listening to my favorite radio station as i drove home today and the evening person was discussing something and i only heard part of it and what i heard made me laugh. so i had to look it up to see it. they were discussing the top 5 professions that cheat. and well teachers are number 1 on the list for females. here is the rest of the list for those of you who are curious as well.

For Women:

1. Teachers
2. Stay-at-home Moms
3. Nurses
4. Administrative Assistants
5. Real Estate Agents

For Men:
1. Physicians
2. Police Officers
3. Lawyers
4. Real Estate Agents
5. Engineers

what do you think of that? i have to laugh, well because i'm a teacher, dating a engineer. (at least he isn't a doctor) but in all honesty i am 110% against cheating. after the whole marcus incident back in 2005/2006 (seriously i can't believe it was that long ago) where he cheated on me for 5 months after i went back to the states with another american who was studying abroad (her and i became friends after we found out july 2006, i finally met her in april 2008 and we still talk today). so that was a huge learning experience and made me completely hate cheaters and people who cheat. so i will never be one of those teachers.

but the source of the study was kinda sketchy if you read the article. it was ashleymadison - the dating site for married people.... so the whole things just made me laugh.

so i had a good weekend, despite the omg horrible weather that hit the mid-atlantic. we got like 6" of rain (i am SO glad it was not snow) and there was some minor water where i was but nothing too crazy, we didn't loose power either. unlike a lot of new jersey. i went to the crossings my favorite outlet mall in pennsylvania on saturday with erin. and spent waaay too much money, but i needed a few staples, so it was ok and i didn't pay more for any items than i wanted to. i went to my fav ann taylor and got a cute black dress, blue/white stripped linen pants and a black cowl neck shirt. at banana i got black ankle pants, khakis, khaki pencil skirt and black pencil skirt. and at polo i found awesome red ankle pants for $10(i can not wait to wear this) and polo's were on sale for $40. and i also bought underwear for really cheap too (because i don't own enough already). so it was a successful shopping mission. yay! and sunday was another adventure to pennsylvania to see twin. for a state i used to hate, it is now where i'm spending waaay to0 much time. funny how that happens. and i didn't even go to pa to see matt this weekend.

and my glasses finallly came in. i ordered them like 2 weeks ago, and i was so excited to come home and take out my contacts. something i do seconds before i go to bed usually. so hopefully glasses that are a current prescription and not 4 years old and frames i like will make me wear them more. here they are - please excuse the monday night/no makeup/awk lighting.

i have a hard time finding frames i like because i have such a small face and i don't want my glasses to eat my face.

anyway... off to read a bit and get some sleep. i love that it gets dark so late, but the one hour time change really throws me off. and it was sooo dark this morning, didn't help it was pouring. hopefully there will be a gorgeous sunrise tomorrow to make me smile. and the it should be getting up to 60 tomorrow too! oh and thanks for all the awesome comments on my new hair!

female coach

finaaaally friday. it is weird, while the months are flying by, it seems like each day is slow. i feel like the last few weeks i've been, how is it only tuesday? but here it is march 12th. seriously! but it is a super yucky rainy weekend here but earlier this week it was gorgeous! so i can't complain. spring is on the way. and this weekend is time change! yesss, not getting dark until later.

earlier this week was winter sports awards and it was a fun night. to hear a little about each other sports season and then each team broke off and we did our own thing. coach and i talked about each of the kids and then their awards and the 2 seniors/captains gave out team awards. and then i was shocked. to thank me (i was a volunteer coach) coach got me new ski poles, reallly nice gloves, goggles and then a ski tuning kit with wax, sharpeners. so now i wish it wasn't spring and i could go skiing to use all my new toys. i can't wait for next season. but the kids all made me laugh talking about me and thanking me. and one of the boys started calling me female coach early on in the season and it kinda stuck. and all the kids were calling me it by the end. and the nickname makes me laugh. i do miss ski season.

and then the other day i got my haircut. and i did something i did 8 years ago when i was a junior in high school. i dyed my hair. i'd been frustrated with it recently. it was dull and just blaaah. my mom suggested some color or highlights to give it some uuumph. so i went to the salon and got it done by the woman whose been doing my hair since i was 13 and wow, does it make a difference. recently i'd been going to a new place because i hate paying $50 for a haircut. but she is so good and it comes out so much better than the cheaper places. so after getting her opinion and her telling me to go with a semi-permanent dye (she knows i don't want to deal with roots) and letting her pick a color. i went with it. and i LOVE it! it is a bit darker with a hint of redish in it.

after before

and this week is quiet, going to the outlets with erin tomorrow in the pouring rain, driving to pa to see twin this weekend and her new apartment! yay! and it is going to be a good week. i have a field trip on thrursday/friday and then RIVERDANCE on saturday with erin. and then matt and i are doing something. and this wednesday is also st. partick's day but i probably won't be doing anything. all i want to do on wednesday is be at sin e with a pint of beamish and listening to a trad session.

any fun weekend plans?

where in the world.... cocoa beach, florida

It's Wednesday and that means it's time the lovely Jess over at Classy in Philadelphia's , Where In The World Wednesday!

If you participate, please take the button the fabulous Feris made to use in your post!

The idea of WITWW is to post a picture of you in someplace in the world...it doesn't have to be somewhere foreign or tropical. Just a picture of you somewhere that you consider traveling.

so this week is many college's spring break. whoooohoooo! and for 4 years i went to cocoa beach, florida with the crew team for our training trip. and it was hard and exhausting, but ammmmazing! 6 hours of being on the water and rowing with the manatees and dolphins. and bonding with the team. here are a few of my favs from my final trip senior year. also it was the last day of this trip i got the email letting me know i was accepted into the grad program and would be headed back to ireland!

last practice after the underclassmen throw in the seniors

rowing... one of the few i have of rowing in florida

jumping in the pool after the last practice and totally soaked from being thrown in

after the juniors gave us our presents - i still have mine!

so participate with where in the world wednesday and go over to Jess's blog - Classy in Philadelphia and share your link :)

fording rivers

i think spring might be on its way! finallllllly!

it was a gorgeous last few days here and the rest of the week is supposed to be nice too. the only thing is this snow neeeeds to melt! but hopefully 50 degree days will do the trick.

had one amazing weekend in connecticut! i went back up to see college roomie and all my friends and it was fab to see everyone, but every time i go it makes me miss living there. last spring was crazy.

had fun seeing everyone, just catching up with roomie, laughing, a beach adventure, drinking a little bit too much and just getting away for the weekend!

beachhhhhh

with the girls

i need to find something fun for this weekend, as this week is going to be rough and i need something to look forward to.

how was your weekend?

where in the world.... the reeks, ireland

It's Wednesday and that means it's time the lovely Jess over at Classy in Philadelphia's , Where In The World Wednesday!

If you participate, please take the button the fabulous Feris made to use in your post!

The idea of WITWW is to post a picture of you in someplace in the world...it doesn't have to be somewhere foreign or tropical. Just a picture of you somewhere that you consider traveling

earlier this week i was really missing the irish mountains, so i decided this week to pick a few of my favorite shots of the reeks in county kerry. here is where the 3 highest peaks are in ireland and i've climbed them multiple times and hiked in the reeks about ten times.

from my last hike in ireland - february 2009 - it was a faaabulous day!

an amazing snowy day in the reeks - january 2008

looking at the ridge we just hiked over - a fabulous summer day - june 2008

at the top on the snowy day - jan 2008

so participate with where in the world wednesday and go over to Jess's blog - Classy in Philadelphia and share your link :)

screensaver

so over the last few days i've been spending a lot of time with my computer. i should have been typing up notes for my classes, butttt i found myself distracted and my computer would keep going to screensaver. and my screensaver is my photos. and as you may guess, i have a lot of photos, so it is always fun looking at what photos pop up and what memories they bring back. i can just watch my screensaver and be entertained for hours. haha!

here are the first 5 that pop up....

this was the day we got our crew jackets. it is a big deal to finally get your crew jacket and at the end of your 3rd semester (fall of soph year) of crew right before the last race in the fall we get jackets. here are all my fellow sophomores getting our jackets at the spaghetti dinner. sadly i was not there that night because i had class :( and out of that picture there would be 8 of them and me left senior year.

my roomies senior year after playing project runway for an anything goes but clothes party

view from the rialto bridge in venice feb 2009

one of my favorite days ever. a gorgeous hike along the cliffs at slieve league in donegal, ireland in april 2008. we sat along these cliffs in the sunshine for a good hour. with my friends karen and emer

the statue to michael collins in beal na mblath in county cork, ireland. this is where he was killed in an ambush during the irish civil war. this is from august 2005 - when i took a irish history class when i studied abroad in ireland and we had lots of fun field trips.

anyone else love their screensaver as much as i do?