tired

i forgot how tiring teaching is.

and getting up at 5am.

but i've enjoyed being back teaching. and as crazy as the seniors are driving me because i'm making them do work i am happy to be teaching. i know i am cruel and horrible to make the seniors do minimal work in an elective in the spring. what can i say - i have standards.

and i'm continuing to deal with drama with physical therapy with insurance issues. part of it is with the insurance card issue from the state in january which we are trying to fix. the other part is well my pt office made a huge mistake and finally admitted to me yesterday that - ooops, we made a mistake. it is our fault. so at least it isn't going to affect me, just that most likely they won't be paid by insurance for 8 visits. (aka a lot of money). and now i'm waiting on the insurance company to authorize more visits because well i need them still. so fun all around. but i jogged for 5 minutes on monday! woooo! it hurt a bit after so just taking it slow to get used to the new motions. but wooo!

and one perk of being in nj is getting to be back with my nj zetas! i've been able to go to a few events in the last few weeks and it makes me happy going to see these lovely women so often! i'm looking forward to brunch this weekend and then a dinner next week too!

and i'm trying to figure out my march schedule. it looks like the position i'm subbing in will end on friday. so i'm sad about that - i'm going to call the other district i sub for in nj and let them now i have some availability in march too. plus i have two conferences to look forward to! i'm off to chicago (sooo excited about!) and then just down the road in princeton (not as exciting) but the chicago one will be a blast with some amazing coworkers and i'm hanging around a few days to actually explore the city, since i've never been! so any good chicago recs? i'll have almost 2 full days to explore after the conference is over.

oh and happy leap day! it was a nice day today because we got some snow so we had an early dismissal from school! wooo! very nice to get that message ar 10:30 that we're done at 12!

oh hi

oh hi. february is almost over and well i've been a bit busy. and well i haven't been on my computer much and i hate blogging from my phone.

so the last few weeks via pictures.

went into nyc for the super bowl to see two of my good friends from hs. we had a great night watching football and chatting about life and such. plus i drove into manhattan for the first time ever! 

i'm a very active sorority alumna both in nj & sc. i used to be a membership advisor for a collegiate chapter in nj but when i moved i resigned, but i went to help a few nights for their recruitment and had a great time! 

 

went to boston (well outside boston) to work a conference. it was a fun weekend. 6/7th graders are pretty funny and i was working with some great people. 

and i was able to see another great friend from hs who i worked with at summer camps and lives in boston. we went to dinner when i arrived on wednesday for tapas & sangria. it was delish and i haven't had good spanish food since the summer in dc. 

my work trip to boston had to end short though - my great grandmother (nanny) died and i missed the last day of the conference for work. she was 98 and had lived a great life. she had 3 children, 10 grandchildren, i'm 1 of 20 great grandchildren and 3 great-great grandchildren. sadly she was the last of my great grandparents. i knew 3 of my great grandparents all on my father's side, with her husband dying my freshman year of hs, my other great grandmother dying my junior year of college and her when i was 26. so i've been extremely lucky. this picture is 60 years old and is from my grandparents wedding and my nanny & poppy are shown there. 

my knee is doing well! i am 9 weeks post op today. and things are going great. my knee bends all the way, which is great and now i'm just getting my strength in my right leg back. therapy is going well and i can start jogging next week. wooooo! i'm doing all sorts of fun lunges, wall sits and such. 

so in other news i'm teaching for a few weeks in nj at the school where i used to teach. so far it has been good - interesting but good. it has been kinda weird to be back - i taught there the 09/10 year but was let go due to my position being cut due to the budget. and now i'm subbing in my old department for a few weeks. i'm enjoying my classes and i have about 15 of my old students who are now seniors which is funny and it has been great to see them. so just enjoying a few weeks of teaching and it really does make me miss teaching and having the same students. and it also has been great to see so many of my old co-workers! 

and to end it - this story came out of my undergrad last week and when i first read it i was so proud of washington college and to be an athlete there. it is an incredible story of sportsmanship by our basketball team and it has received a bit of national attention and a piece on it will be on next weeks (feb 25) college game day. 

happy presidents day! 

the joys of subbing

so i'm back substitute teaching and i would like to share my thoughts and feelings of being a substitute and also a certified teacher and a few theories i'm testing as i sub. i've been subbing off and on since may 2006. in jersey i subbed for k-12 and also aides, here in SC i'm just doing high school.

so i really dislike subbing, but it works right now with the flexibility of working around my retail schedule and i'm getting my face in a few schools down here. and while i know some people who like subbing because they like picking & choosing when they work and it is always different. i hate that aspect of it. i like creating the relationships with my students and getting to know them and what works for their class and vice versa they know me and know the structure of my class. i don't like walking into someone else's class and trying to figure out their routine and quirks. i know when i sub i sometimes come off as a bit of a bitch - i'm working at trying not to let the little things get to me that i would never let fly in my class but it isn't mine. as a sub if it is just minor disruptive/disrespectful behavior i can either just leave a note or call the office. 9.9/10 i'm leaving a note. i rarely call the office. i can think of twice in all the times subbing i've called the office and there were other issues besides behavior there. the kids don't care - they might not see me again and that's my attitude towards it too. if it was my student i'd have an idea why they are being disrespectful and then talk to them, call home, detention and if severe send a referral. i sent about 15 referrals my first year teaching and 5 of them were for cafeteria duty related things and 8 of the others were for one student who kept cutting my class and had a boatload of problems and ended up dropping my class. so i guess my biggest issue with subbing is classroom management or the lack of it in a lot of teachers.

so in the classroom management side of things i can tell within the first 2 minutes of walking into a classroom if i am going to have a good day or not. by reading the plans, seeing what notes teachers have left up, the bulletin boards, walls, general look of the classroom i know. teachers who leave better notes and lesson plans i rarely have a problem that day. they leave enough work for their students, seating charts/notes for attendance help me with names, they generally have more of a structure/routine and usually pretty good classroom management. they say write down the names and i'll deal with them tomorrow and the students ask if they've been good. on the flip side i walk into a room that has no posters/wall decoration, desk is a hot mess of papers, a minimal assignment on the board that is just busy work, no attendance list just a note have the students write down their names and i know it is going to be a rough day. the regular teacher has very little classroom management, let's behavior slide and doesn't expect much. it makes it that much harder for me as they are more likely to go crazy.

those are both examples from last week. monday i was in a class that was horrible. one of the worst days subbing ever - teacher said could work in groups and unfortunately they had to as there was only 12 workbooks for classes of 20-29. so even when they became crazy they couldn't do the work individually because there wasn't the materials. and half of the workbooks has answers written in them. they were extremely rude and disrespectful and it was hell.
friday a teacher left me a note saying the class was a bit rough out of a class of 20 there were 18 freshman boys... 2 other teachers said let me know if you have a problem with them. it took a few minutes to calm them down and get started but they were great once they got working. i had to stay on them but there was more than enough work, if they finished there were things to do and they were respectful. the difference was structure and classroom management. and it wasn't like the first teacher didn't know that was a rough class, i saw the notes from 3 other subs on the notebook i was given for attendance and all of them said that class was horrible, rude and needed more work. and nothing had changed in what the teacher did.

i guess it drives me crazy because i know what it is like to be a teacher and to sub. after subbing when i was absent when i taught i left clear, detailed sub plans, emailed my supervisor and another teacher my plans, had all my materials clearly labeled, enough work and my classes were read the riot act on appropriate behavior for a sub. because i knew what subbing was like. i really think most teachers should have to sub for a few weeks before teaching to get a better idea of it. like i understand in an emergency. which is why you have emergency sub plans - super broad. i made it easy for my USII classes and did a video corresponding to the month it was on which decade we were studying and they had to write a paragraph about what they thought was most interesting about that decade. our supervisors had to have a copy of our emergency plans and they had to be clearly labeled on our desks with a complete class roster. and believe me i hated being absent because sub plans were a pain.

one last vent. i hate subbing for coaches, at least in my recent experience here both coaches i've subbed for in the last week had more on their desks about football & baseball than social studies. the posters on the wall were all sports related (if any) and they create their own class rules and i find let the students get away with more. drives me batty. and i guess the frustration comes from the high number of coaches in social studies. i can admit in my department out of the 13 teachers - 10 of us were coaches, including myself. there is something (especially in males) were because they want to coach they either teach history or gym. and i feel sometimes their students get shafted. both history teachers i subbed for who were coaches in the last week just did questions straight out of the book and book worksheets. and that is all they did. and it frustrates the hell out of me as someone who is looking for a social studies position that never did anything just out of the book. i created my lessons, make my students think and hold them accountable.

so my theories are male social studies coach = coach and classroom appearance is linked to behavior.

so thanks for listening to me vent about subbing and my type a personality hating subbing because i like being in control and as a substitute you aren't in control. any other teachers notice any common traits or remember any funny sub stories from school?

2010 in review

so 2010 wasn't the best year for me - it started out pretty awesome and then about halfway through the year everything started to change. it hasn't been horrible and i've really tried to look on the bright side, as i've been able to do some pretty awesome things. but it has been a rough year. but i've been really lucky as 2007, 2008 and 2009 (especially 2009) were awesome, so i hope 2011 will be a better year.

january:
had a fun new year's eve with erin hanging out, and i was super busy in january. with teaching, driving to bethlehem to see matt on the weekend, coaching the ski team. yea... january was boring. i was working everyday from 7am-8pm with school and ski. and there were seriously no photos in jan :(


february:
february was crazy! with teaching, ski team, zta recruitment, going to kansas, and other little trips.

kansas basketball game with patricia

at truman's house in missouri

lots of snow!

so it was the usual with school & ski. i also had recruitment for the college zta chapter i advise with a few late late nights, and the highlight of february was kansas! i was also hanging out with erin every week going to the movies or dinner (so nice to have a local friend). played in princeton for the day with jclark and i went out for a long weekend to see my friend patricia and had a blast in kansas! went to a kansas basketball game, played with history and ate a lot of amazing food. i also hit 2 new states - kansas and missouri! stayed a little longer due to a blizzard in jersey. lots and lots of skiing! the charity ball with matt, more snow, being hooked to the tv for the winter olympics especially the skiing & hockey.




march:

amy and i on our adventure

puppy and lillian kitten

march started out great. i went up to mystic for a fun weekend! i also got a new camera! yay! dyed my hair, seeing twin in pa, got new glasses, sadly had to put the sweet miss brandy to sleep :(
saw riverdance with erin which was fabulous and my present to myself for being back in the states a year! huge budget cuts in nj in education, but still loving my job and my students, still seeing matt on the weekends and having fun with him, super busy with work, being ztatastic and happy that it is no longer winter!


april:

monticello

gettysburg

april was a fun month! it started out with spring break! yay! a week off of school! and i was down to virginia to see my sister for easter with my family and then it was the civil war road trip. i went to richmond, appomattox, monticello, longwood college (where my sorority was founded), fredricksburg, saw where stonewall jackson's arm was burried, chancellorsville, wash dc, gettysburg and i got to see my pen-pal holly! so that was an amazing week. the rest of april was uneventful, loving my job but things were still uneasy with if i was going to have a job, but i was loving the spring weather and still seeing matt when i could and i bought my bike!

may:

fun weekend in philly

tswift

graduation

may was traveltastic! started out may with a much needed mystic weekend. i helped amy celebrate her birthday and a fun weekend of drinking and playing on the water. then the next weekend i was down in philly with jeanne, with a hilarious we're drinking like we're in college night and cheering on our college team rowing. still waiting to hear about my job, absolutely loving my students and teaching, seeing TSWIFT in concert which was ammmmazing! then the next week i was in baltimore to see my little & glittle for the weekend, which was an awesome time! and next was my fav trip of may - going up to boston to see jeanne graduate which was my 4 reunion! may went by super fast as i was traveling but it was so much fun!




june:

dixie chicks, keith urban & the eagles

eeeee! only a few more days of school before summer break! i signed up for a half-marathon, read a ton of books, loved seeing erin & my sorority alumni sisters & cut my hair with bangs! unfortunately found out that i wasn't getting rehired with about a week left in the school year, saw the dixie chicks, keith urban & the eagles in concert which was fabulous! survived my first year teaching and was extremely sad to not be teaching there again, went to graduation and then a few hours later was in mystic and camp started the next day! camp was crazy! the staff was fun, but man i wasn't used to the little kids!

july:

lots of sailing

lobster

lady a & tim mcgraw

summer was in swing at camp, which i was enjoying. but i was loving the weekends. 4th of july was great with the beach, boating & fireworks. lots of sailing, driving the launches, happy hours on friday nights, laughing as the boys drank on weeknights. twin came up and her amy and i went to see lady a and tim mcgraw and got drenched in a thunderstorm! the summer of arnold palmers, attempting to eat lobster, sailing, playing at the cottages in newport, my fab 25th birthday weekend of the bar, carson's, the beach and the rascal flatts with amy and captain! i also started up my photo365 again!

august:

sunrise over acadia

acadia national park

love it

still lots of sailing, realizing i should be running for the half marathon, the pranks at camp, and general summer fun. quickly realizing summer was almost over and slightly panicing about my life and no clue as to what would happen, i cried a lot this summer. camp ended and lots of cleaning. heading up to maine (yes! another new state) with amy for a few days camping at acadia national park. which i LOVED. lots of hiking, biking, watching sunrise, and just an absolutely gorgeous part of our country. sadly leaving connecticut and heading back to nj, where i became a statistic. started going on a few dates and did my 30 by 30 list and found out i'd be in dc only for a few weeks this fall.

little's bachelorette

yay 13.1 miles

world war II memorial

ft. mchenry

september:
had a mini breakdown when school started and i wasn't going back but it was a busy week, catching up with erin & barb, went hiking with becca, and then drove down to dc for a few weeks work. and on the way went to my little's bachelorette party in baltimore which was a blast! and then the history dork i am went to ft. mchenry and then i started what i thought was going to be two-ish weeks in dc. in dc i hung out with my fav mj and we were tourists and i got my library of congress library card! and then was so excited to be reunited with patricia and mj! training week was fun, and to end the week was the chestertown half marathon! i met up with jeanne and walburn and had a great weekend, running 13.1 miles in 2:11:56, which i was super excited about, and then some crew time and then hitting up the bird and drinking like we were in college! first session went well and i was asked to work more weeks! so i was going to be in dc a bit longer!







october: 

ft. sumter

magnolia plantation grounds

mom and i at army

little and i

conference life is crazy. i was loving the fun with ellie & mj and our lunch adventures especially with cupcakes! my groups were all pretty awesome, so i was lucky! little's wedding in baltimore was so much fun! she was gorgeous and it was a great party! and just crazy conference life. having a week off and going with amy to charleston, sc! took amtrack and had fun playing in a gorgeous southern city! seeing ft. sumter! and all the gorgeous architecture! the plantations and old houses! i was in love. tswift's new cd came out! ended the month with going to an army football game with my parents and heading back down to dc for one last week.











november:

ellie & i at end of cycle

erin and i hiking

thought there might be some good news, but there wasn't. but the last week of conferences were fun! and the end of cycle was completely hilarious! then i was back to nj.... november kinda sucked. i subbed a few days a week, read a lot, erin & i went hiking and were hanging out all the time. it was a really quiet month. i bought a bed. thanksgiving with my family was nice. joined the gym...



december:

amy & i in newport

walburn, me and jeanne 

christmas

lots of plans for december. the first weekend i met up with 2 college friends in the city for the day, then sorority christmas party, and saturday drove to philly to get jeanne and we headed to baltimore for walburn's christmas party! it was a great night and then met kaity for brunch sunday. continued to sub a few days a week, re-did my room, went to connecticut for the weekend and saw catie for dinner and then the usual mystic shenanigans. amy & i went to newport, the slumber party and a great weekend. christmas was quickly approaching, i booked the eurotrip! 3 weeks in january to zurich, prague, budapest, vienna, cologne, amsterdam and ireland!
yay!! took little bro into the city for
his present to see the king tut exhibit, which was fabulous. and then suz's christmas party in the city, which was hilarious and fun to see some people i haven't in years. and then lots of christmas and euro prep. a nice christmas with my family, where i got a kindle! and today a big snowstorm. the rest of this week will be getting ready for europe and a new years eve with jeanne and other college friends in philly.



2010 overall i did a lot, there was a major disappointment with not getting rehired. but i think i've done an ok job of looking on the bright side and having fun. i did some awesome things!

-3 new states (kansas, missouri & maine)
-successfully completed my first year teaching
-made a few new awesome friends
-restarted my photo365
-ran a half marathon
-saw riverdance, taylor swift/kellie pickler, eagles/dixie chicks/keith urban, lady a/tim mcgraw/rascal in concert
-lots of road trips to see friends

so i am extremely lucky that i was able to do so many things and have these awesome opportunities. i hope 2011 will be a better year, but i was lucky in 2010 for many things.

update

hope everyone had a good labor day weekend. sadly for me this labor day wasn't too different, it marked the end of summer, but i'm not back in my classroom. my first day of school would have been last wednesday if i was teaching this year and it is weird that i'm not. it is finally starting to feel real that i'm not teaching, and i hate it. i loved what i was doing last year and i hate that i probably won't be teaching for a year until next september. i feel like so many of the things i want to do are on hold for a year. without a stable job i can't move out on my own and i hate the fact i'm 25 and i don't have a job and that i'm living at home. but everything happens for a reason, so i'm just waiting to figure out what fun will happen next. i'm probably going to be doing a lot of subbing this year but i'm looking into taking a little trip to europe this spring. i miss ireland like crazy (i can't believe it has been 5 years since i first went there and studied abroad) and there are still a million places i want to go in europe, so i'm thinking about taking a 3ish week trip in feb/march because when else will i have time to go on a multiweek vacation and i'm young and i have nothing holding me back.

the game plan right now. i'm home this week. and pretty busy. hiking in the gap with becca, planning for a college sorority recruitment that i'm the recruitment advisor for and i'm not going to be here for, a date with an awesome guy, doing something fun with erin, and packing and doing a bunch of errands. 

packing... i was hired for a few sessions with the program i worked last summer (2009) in washington dc. so i'll be down there working with high school students on leadership and the us government for a few weeks. i'm kinda upset i was only hired for 2 of the 6 sessions, but whatever. the thing i am excited about is patricia, mj and i will be together! my 2 favs from summer 2009 and i are back working together. sooooo excited for that! we've all kept in pretty good contact, i've seen each of them twice since that summer and went out to kansas to see patricia. so it is going to be kinda redic. i can't wait. so that starts next monday. and then this weekend is my little's bachelorette party in baltimore! yay! so exited for that! 

and i'm also SUPER excited about these boots. omg, drool. they are from lands end and i can't wait to get them! luckily they were on sale (yay 25% off and free shipping) because i am slightly crazy to not have a job but spend $125 on gorgeous boots. what can i say, i love shoes. buuut i have to wait a few weeks because sadly they are on backorder until september 20th.                                                                                             ummm, oh yea. a date this week. since i've been home i've gone out a few times with a really awesome guy. he lives locally (and can i just say how awesome that is, i've never dated anyone who lives 20 minutes away, my last few bf's have lived at least an hour away) so we've hung out a lot since we first met. he's cooked me dinner, i've met his sisters, we've hung out at his house and yesterday with 2 of his friends we went to a scandinavian festival - which was so much fun! so this is something nice in my life right now. but i will say i was gchatting with patricia last week about him and she joked, at least he isn't an only child and i said i've moved on from only children who live in pennsylvania to engineers who own houses. which is funny because ross & matt were both only children who lived in pennsylvania and matt and the new boy are both engineers and have recently bought houses. i apparently like to keep traits in common in guys i like. 

and so still lots of unknowns in my life but i'm dealing with it the best i can. trying to have fun and not be so upset about not having a job. i'm excited about dc and enjoying the coming fall.

how was your weekend?

happy birthday america

i had an absolutely amazing weekend. like hands down it was fabulous. last week was a good week at camp but i couldn't wait until happy hour with amy. camp is going well and is a ton of fun and i'm definitely enjoying myself. so friday was kinda quiet after happy hour but saturday was an epic day. it consisted of some of my favorite things that start with the letter b.

biking

beach

boating

amy and i woke up early and met up with the captain and we went off on a bike ride to this cute little breakfast place a few miles away in one of my favorite little coastal towns near us. and then we drove up to rhode island for the morning at the beach. we were there by 9.30 and set out and enjoyed the glorious sun - maybe a little too much, as we are all now lobsters (but we used sunscreen, oops!) and enjoyed walking around and lunch before heading back home where we decided to enjoy a boat ride on the sound. so we had some fun out in the sound and it was just fabulous. then one of our friends who was in town invited us to his yacht club for dinner and fireworks at the beach, which was fun and i absolutely love fireworks.

sunday was a bit crazy we were again invited to the yacht club to help with a 4th of july breakfast on the beach, so we were at the beach at 6.30 am and it was awesome. what a cool idea of breakfast on the beach. had to go into work for a few hours, as it was the first day of camp (should be another awesome week!) and then i went to more amazing fireworks with other friends sunday night, this show was pretty awesome but the coolest part was all along the coast your could see the different fireworks from the different towns. at one point there were 5 different fireworks going off - so awesome!

and now i'm still as red as a lobster on my stomach and upper thighs and headed into work soon. i'm loving my schedule, amy and i alternate nights at camp. so we work like 30 hours on and then like 18 off. and i'm off 3 nights this week. and last week two students made my day, i got an email from one of my now seniors asking for a college letter of recommendation and another girl is in the national guard and is in basic training alll summer so she asked for my address so she could get mail (only way of communication) and i got one from her friday and it totally made me cry because she wrote about how much she liked my class and now has an interest in history. oh and totally random, i bought a pink lifejacket, how awesome is that? i absolutely love it and it totally fits my personality!

fireworks on sunday night (i love the fireworks setting on my camera!)

sunset over the sound on sunday night

4th of july breakfast on the beach

boating on the sound

ahhh, beach :)

how was your 4th of july? (and a happy belated canada day to all my canadian friends!) last year when i went to the national archives in june and got to see the declaration of independence and the constitution was possibly the most awesome thing!

slight disappearance

so the last two weeks have been pretty crazy to say the least. i had my first day off yesterday in two weeks, i finished my first year of teaching, moved to connecticut and worked my first week at camp. so it has been a bit of a madhouse for me and in the few minutes i check my email at night, the last thing i want to do is blog though i've had so many funny things to write about. though it has been pretty crazy, things have been fabulous.

school ending was pretty bittersweet for me, i had an amazing first year teaching. honestly my student teaching was a million times harder than my first year. my co-workers (especially in my department) were incredible as mentors and friends and making me laugh. my students were fabulous, they (for the most part) listened and respected me, i think enjoyed my class and hopefully learned some history. i was really sad on the last day of school to tell them that i most likely wouldn't be returning next year, and they weren't happy to hear that. my first period made me cry, they made me a poster of the class and all signed it. so that was really sweet. but i just found out yesterday that i officially do not have a job in the fall. there is a slight possibility that could change it, but right now i have no idea what i will be doing in september. so extremely frustrating that with two weeks left in the school year i was told i won't have a job and the way things ended. but i will have amazing recommendations from my vice principal and my supervisor.

so school ended last friday the 18th, i helped out at graduation (which was cool and nice to see and cheer on all the seniors) and then drove up to connecticut. and then camp started on sunday. it was a crazy, but awesome week. we had 36 10-12 year olds sailing. and it was a tiring, but learning week. i'm learning a new camp and a new position, but really enjoying it. i'm super excited for this week!

and i've just enjoyed living in connecticut this week. the weather has been super hot (which i'm loving) and i'm enjoying hanging out with everyone. though amy and i did fall asleep at like 9.30 on friday night. oops! but we made up for it last night! which was a blast!

so hope everyone is having a good weekend! my reader has exploded and my blogging will be near non-existant this summer. i will try to keep up with my where in the world wednesday, i was really upset that i missed last wednesday. first one i haven't done!

trying to stay positive

thanks for all the love yesterday with the job situation - it isn't looking good so i'm coming to the realization that i won't be back next year and it is hard. i'm not telling my students until friday (the last day of school) and i am dreading it. finals are going well so far and yesterday during my prep i cleaned out most of the papers from the large pile on my filing cabinet that were waiting to be filed and organized my filing cabinet by leaving one blank and my answer key to start bringing everything home. and in the process i filled up a recycling bin. it was empty when i started. i will say a majority of it is my midterms. here is exhibit a -

i'm thinking of all the other things i want to do/possible job ideas and it is frustrating because this is the exact place i was in last summer when after july 28th i had no idea... well now after about august 18th i have no idea. but as i've said many times it all works out and things happen for a reason. so all i know is 3 more days of waking up at 5am. i have 3 more finals to give. and i am done. and on my way to connecticut for the summer :)

also, here is the long awaited erin with bangs photo - i thought i took one but i hadn't so i took it this morning as i left for work. to compare is the pre-haircut photo after school the day i cut it.

and went to dinner with erin and after we went and sat along this lake and chatted for another 1.5 hours. which was glorious. and then sister and i sporkled for a while this evening which was a ton of fun. we mostly did geography and history trivia. so it was fun :)

ohhhhh! and in july with my best friend and my roomie we will be seeing LADY ANTEBELLUM and TIM MCGRAW in concert! i am soooo excited for this! yay!

if you could have any job what would it be....

four in a row

"Maybe our mistakes are what make our fate. Without them, what would shape our lives? Perhaps if we never veered off course, we wouldn't fall in love, or have babies, or be who we are. After all, seasons change. So do cities. People come into your life and people go. But it's comforting to know the ones you love are always in your heart. And if you're very lucky, a plane ride away." satc

last weekend was fabulous - even though it has been a year since having my loves together it honestly felt like nothing. i see amy often and jeanne a few times but having all 4 of us together and chatting and laughing was perfect. and also to all be there celebrating jeanne's graduation from grad school was the best reason to be together.

and i also had a long weekend - i took yesterday off and it was greatly needed. this weekend's boston/connecticut weekend was weekend 4 of traveling. so may has flown because of this. i loved my weekends in connecticut/philly/baltimore/boston-connecticut. and they were all greatly needed. and now i have 11 teaching days until finals and 16 school days until the end. and 24 days until the end. so 25 days until connecticut! crazyyyyyy!

and last week i also went to ellis island with a class trip and it was a blast. except for the huge accident so getting home took 3.5 hours instead of the 2ish hours it should have taken even in ny/nj rush hour traffic. but it was fab. and i love ellis island :)

:)

tswift concert and life

ugh, i've wanted to write like every night this week, i've had a lot of great ideas this week, but i just haven't sat down to type it out. so here i am once again with my weekly post on life and right now it is crazy. but awesome crazy :)

last night i saw taylor swift! and her concert was AMAZING! like probably the best concert i've been to performer wise. rascal in nc with the girls in 2006 was the best concert experience. but finally getting to see tswift was just eeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! i've been a fan of hers since the summer of 2006 when i first heard "tim mcgraw" and then "picture to burn" and i just love her. and also kellie pickler was incredible too! so concert was spectacular. here are some of my favorite photos.

i love b&w pics at concerts

loooove this one!

singing fifteen

more b&w

love tswift

and everything with work, well still not really sure. all non-tenured teachers got our letters this morning that our contracts are not renewed but once the budget is figured out that i'm recommended for rehire. so who knows when i'll know more. so my plan right now is to wait the next month and get through the rest of the school year. from what i've heard i should be ok... but who knows.

and last weekend was fabulous. i was down in/outside of philly seeing my love jclark. i was told to bring my going out clothes and we are drinking like we are in college again. and i get to her house and a bottle of arbor mist is awaiting us. so we drink and also decide to take shots and play flip cup with arbor mist (yesss, we are just that classy) and then travis, jeanne and i head into manayunk to meet up with one of travis's friends. so let's just say i had a hilarious night, that was pretty collegetastic and it was a lot of fun. and then saturday we headed to the schuylkill for the dad vail regatta to cheer on our wac rowers. i got to see a few friends and was excited to see ash! i also got to see one of my summer friends from dc and we chatted for a while. and the got home late saturday night, so it was a great time and just what i needed.

and it is friday already! (ok, late thursday night) yay! i'm off to baltimore tomorrow to see my sorority little! and also glittle too. so psyched for a little family reunion. can't believe how fast time is flying too. getting sooo close to the end of the year. and i'm going to ellis island monday for a field trip. sooo excited, as ellis is one of my favorite places!

any fun weekend plans?