Farewell 2010-Part 1

I usually do a best of recap at the end of the year...best photos, best memories, best scrapbook pages. I'm just not feeling it this year. Maybe since scrapping and photos took a bit of a back seat to other events of the year. So, instead I've decided to do a little 2010 recap....photos, words, memories, crafty goods....an anything goes recap, month by month.

January

My word for the year. Actually did a lot of this for the first few months of the year. Not so much as the year progressed....


Jack and Andrea's wedding:


Reading, creating, soup making
State budget cuts include a 50% cut to music therapy

February

Lots of knitting:


Pretty flowers:


Begin Post Baccalaureate program in Special Education
Research grad school options
More scrapping:


March

Rain and rainbows:


Cupcakes, real and knitted:


Obsession with felt:


Bridal shower invites
School work
Shopping for bridesmaids dress pattern and fabric
Making stuff:


April

1st grade practicum
Easter brunch:


Yarn, yarn, yarn:


Visit from Ellen
Week in the Life:


Private pay music therapy:


Trip to OR
Tulip Fields:


Bridal Shower fun:


Adorable bride to be:


May

Mother's Day brunch:


Job applications
Letters of recommendations
State education exams
Grad school application
Schnepf Farms Peach Festival:


Simple pleasures:


June

Summer cooking and eating:


Exams
Assignments
Applications
4th Anniversary
Uncle Dave's Race Across America:


Now that this is my longest post ever, I've decided to take a break. Stay tuned for the recap of the second half of 2010 coming soon....

Around Here

First, the Christmas recap with no photos. Can you believe I took absolutely NO photos of Christmas. None. Sad. Christmas Eve we celebrated my grandmother's 80th birthday with a big lunch. I brought my camera along, took it out to snap some pictures and oops, no card. Seems I left the card in my card reader. Nice. The party was great, everyone had fun, the vases we made for centerpieces using old pictures of my grandmother were a big hit. I'd share a picture, but....actually, here's one of the collages we used on the vases:


Fun right? After the party, I headed home to make Chocolate Souffle Cupcakes with Mint Cream for Christmas Eve dessert. These were awfully tasty and even gluten free for my mom. We headed to my parents for Christmas Eve dinner complete with Christmas crackers, crowns and present opening. Oh and I brought the camera again, with the card, but this time with a dying battery and no camera bag with spares or a charger. Ugh. Not my finest move.

We spent Christmas morning being lazy. Shawn and I exchanged stockings, opened a few more presents and spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon hanging out. I made Moroccan Quinoa to take to my aunt and uncles for Christmas dinner with my giant family. It was a good time with lots of food, family and fun. I didn't even bother taking my camera, figuring some sort of camera faux pas would occur. Hopefully one of my camera toting uncles will share some pictures with me.

Sunday was officially pajama day. Traditionally, I try not to go anywhere or plan anything for the day after Christmas. I love spending the day in my pj's being lazy. This year, pajama day included internet surfing, scrapping (until I ran out of adhesive) knitting (and some unknitting...I seem to be doing this a lot lately), several episodes of Dexter (while eating chocolate drizzled popcorn) and staying up way too late reading Hunger Games. Perfect lazy day if you ask me.

The past couple days have been a mix of to do's and want to's. I have several assignments and two exams due by Jan 2nd, so there are things I must do. I'd much prefer fun things however. I've been doing my best to balance the two. So far this last week of 2010, I have:

• studied for and taken an exam (got 100% too)
• worked on a final project
  
• created a study guide for exam 2, which I will take on Thursday
• done all the laundry, including sheets and towels
• organized and purged 3 giant piles of random stuff I've been meaning to take care of
• purged the giant pile of magazines and catalogs
• made and consumed Ina Garten's Macaroni and Cheese
• downloaded and read 9 chapters of Catching Fire
• went to a doctor's appointment
• ate lunch at the Duck and Decanter with my sister
• hit Last Chance, where I found a pair of Paige jeans for $30 that though I didn't try on, fit me perfectly
• picked up some more adhesive

Not bad for mixing the to do's with the want to's. The rest of the week will be much of the same. More studying, homework and cleaning balanced with more crafting, reading (for fun) and lunch and dinner dates. Happy Winter Break!

The 10 Returns

I haven't posted a Tuesday 10 in a long time. So, here goes:

1. My halls are partially decked for Christmas. We have a tree with lights but no ornaments, we have wreaths and stockings hung and a portion of my ever growing tree collection is out. The rest of the stuff still sits in boxes. Apparently, decorating is a slow process this year.

2. I'm am all lesson planned and ready to go for the 8 days left of school this year.

3. I was in desperate need of new shoes this fall/winter. So, new boots arrived yesterday (I paid $30 for them, less a $10 gift card), new flats today (I needed to up the amount of my target online order to qualify for free shipping and these were a perfect find) and another pair of boots are on their way (another good deal with a 30% off coupon). My feet are now much happier.

4. Love this story from the news tonight. Don't love how many students do not get music at school.

5. Am making progress with my Christmas shopping, Just a few more things to take care of.

6. I've had my Christmas cards for a week now. Better get busy addressing them one of these days. I ordered them from here. I'll share later. They turned out pretty cute.

7. I am so tired, I keep getting distracted and mesmerized by the tree lights as I type this post. I'm tempted to turn everything off and spend the evening staring at the tree.

8. Am getting this for Christmas. Though I've been told it might not arrive until the end of the month.

9. I've become kind of lazy about dinner lately. Last night we had take out, tonight it's left overs and tomorrow will likely be take and bake pizza. I did buy ingredients for sesame noodles and potato broccoli soup at the store on my way home today. We'll see....

10. Am looking forward to possibly seeing the Nutcracker this weekend with my mom, grandma and sister.

Happy Tuesday!

Musical Interlude

This is awesome.

My PVC Instrument, DRS Talent Show @ Yahoo! Video

Today

Today I....

• ate a bagel and cream cheese for breakfast...it's been bagels not cereal and berries for breakfast lately. I think I'm on a carb kick.
  
• did two music therapy sessions
• picked up tamales that Heather and Angie made...dinner tomorrow. yum!
  
• bought books and toys for my classroom at Borders
• witnessed two grown woman acting like children, fighting over cutting the line at Paradise Bakery. Both of them ended up cutting in front of me (quite hypocritical of the one who made a big scene about the other one cutting), but being nice and respectful paid off and even though I ordered last, my food was ready first. Karma.
• finally got my oil changed....it was long overdue
• got rid of the box jungle (too many online purchases around here)
• watered my poor neglected plants
• unloaded and loaded the dishwasher
  
• wrote my first paper for my new grad school class
• did 3 loads of laundry
• felt queasy off and on all day
• ate a burrito with black beans, rice and avocado for dinner
• am spending the rest of the night in bed with my ipad and yarn and maybe some Dexter

New cards went up at simply ArTistiC this week. Here's mine:


Happy Weekend!

A Semi-Productive Sunday

One of these days I will post pictures again, but until than my friends, you must suffer through yet another words only post. I haven't taken many pictures lately. In fact, I made a point of dragging my camera to Thanksgiving at my parents, but didn't even take it out of my bag. Here's hoping I can take some December pictures. I'm not officially doing a December daily this year, but I'd love to be able to put together a little holiday mini album during my winter break. This will probably require pictures. Hmmm. Maybe I should play with my new instax? Haven't done much of that since I got it for my birthday either.

Back to the Sunday post.....

Like my usual Sundays, today was a mix of getting things done and enjoying a little me time before the work week begins again. Today I managed to be a little productive and still spend plenty of time on the couch with my laptop. Here's what I did and did not get done:

lesson planning and printing of materials-done
cutting and coloring of said materials-not done
evaluation paperwork-done
8 loads of laundry-done
putting away of said laundry-not done (though it is all folded neatly on top of the washer)
sheets washed and bed made-done
floors swept and mopped-done
floors vacuumed-not done (I detest vacuuming)
house dusted-done
piles tackled-1 pile done
simply ArTistiC card-done
card photographed, edited and emailed-not done
post-Bacc lessons-not done
spinach manicotti made for dinner-done
dinner dishes-done

I also actually scrapped today! Crazy, I know. I haven't scrapped a page in a long time and today I actually threw a page together in like 20 minutes. It needs a little finishing touch in the way of hand stitching before I can photo and post, but I'm pretty happy with my first scrapping attempt in quite some time. I was inspired while doing the laundry (scrap room and laundry share a space...I get a little distracted). I used a bunch of old stash stuff too. Go me.

Though I didn't check everything off my list, I am officially done with the to do's for today. I plan on climbing in bed early with some knitting or a magazine.

Happy Sunday!

Grateful-Post Thanksgiving Addition

So I kind of fell off the blogging wagon this month. Truthfully, I've thought about blogging a few times over the past week or two and it just really wasn't on the top of my list. Since I'm home today, enjoying some time in my pj's, I figured I could do one more nice grateful post to round out the month. So here goes, my post Thanksgiving grateful list:

• a nice, quiet dinner with my family yesterday
• pumpkin cheesecake and chocolate pecan pie
• cranberries for breakfast
• a day off and some quality pj time
• online deals and crowd free shopping
• final paper for my grad school class completed yesterday morning
• 2nd grad school class checked off my list
• hot chocolate with marshmallows
• 4 games of words with friends
• a warm and cozy bed
• no commitments for today
• a pile of yarn and several in progress projects that could use a little love
• cold weather, which makes it feel more like the holidays
• a stack of unread magazines
• quiet

Hope you are enjoying your Thanksgiving weekend!

Gratitude Back in Action

I warned you that this little adventure might not be a daily event around here. I've been pretty busy and this week isn't looking good. So, while I had a few minutes I thought I'd post a quick glimpse at my gratitude for the past few days. Here goes, I am grateful for:

-two midterms completed and completed well...A's on both
-conversations with family and friends
-happy news
-early bedtimes
-cozy cool weather bedding
-my fuzzy red slippers
-pumpkin milkshakes

Happy Monday!

Grateful Day 10

Today I am grateful for online courses and the flexibility they provide. I'll admit that changing jobs, being a first year teacher, finishing my post bacc teaching cert program and simultaneously working on grad school is a bit crazy. Just a bit, right? I'm definitely feeling the pressure right now. I'm behind on a few things, but with the flexibility the online courses provides, its ok. Thankfully, I'm usually pretty diligent about getting things done, so when I get behind, its not too far behind. I'm glad I don't have set class days. I'm glad I can work at 8pm, or 6am, or all day Sunday. Without this flexibility, I'm sure I'd be floundering big time.That being said, tomorrow's holiday will be spent writing and turning in a grad school paper that should have been submitted already, studying for two midterms that must be completed by Saturday and beginning research on a paper that is do in two weeks. So much for a day off.....

Grateful Days 8 and 9

Yesterday was a long day filled with teaching and after school meetings and by the time I remembered I should blog, I was too exhausted to get up and go to the computer. If I could blog from my ipad (not sure why it doesn't work) it could have happened as I lay in bed (I'm afraid to admit what time I crawled in bed). So, my grateful for yesterday is technology, more specifically the aforementioned ipad. Love it. Seriously. Love that I can stick it in my purse for use on the go. LOVE that I can lay in bed and surf, check message boards, twitter and facebook, read, play games (Words With Friends and Sudoku usually), watch movies, etc. Love that it has a cute little red case. Love that I can store and view photos. Love that I can store and read pdf files for my classes. Love that I can use certain apps for a quick guitar tuning, checking guitar chords, learning a new song. Love that I can catch up on all the NPR I miss now that I'm not driving around all day. Love it.

Today, I am grateful for the cooler weather. Hello fall, I've been missing you. We've had some weird, way too hot weather around here this fall, but this week is exactly what I've been waiting for. High's around 70 with chilly mornings and nights. I wore long sleeves all day today and was perfectly comfortable. It was 57 degrees on my way to school this morning and I was cold. Perfect. That's how it should be in November. It's about time Phoenix. My classroom was freezing this morning, which is a welcome change since its almost always super hot. I'm guessing my classroom is going to be cold all winter. I'll have to wear sweaters and maybe even coats. Bummer ;) I might even need to make my self another pair of fingerless mittens. In red. Or maybe black. Or both. Double bummer ;) Now, I don't want to hear from all you cold weather dwellers about my "cold" temperatures. To be fair, my Chicago born husband puts a sweatshirt on if it dips below 80 and doesn't appreciate my love of cooler (not cold) weather. I don't think I would do so well living somewhere where winter was long and hard, but boy do I love when the weather cools off around here. Fall temps (and our winter temps) are my very favorite. Chilly enough to need sleeves and maybe a few knitted goodies, but not so cold that you're miserable. We're not quite to the knitted goodies and fun sweaters and coats stage around here yet, but things are looking up in the weather department and for that, I am grateful.

Grateful Day 6 and 7

Today's Grateful is a musical one. Love this song and its message. It's the perfect happy song for adults and kids alike. Love it when I stumble across videos and songs while I'm surfing.



Yesterday's grateful:

Checking things off my to do list.
The worlds best "garden" mojito and darn good food at The Parlor.
Hanging with Michelle for the first time in way too long.
Goodies brought home for me from Shawn's visit to the state fair.

Happy Sunday!

Grateful Day 5

Better late than never....

Yesterday, I was grateful for this comment, given to me by someone observing my room: "There are some people who work with these kids and its their job and there are other people that it's their passion. I can tell its your passion and you love your kids." I am grateful that even when its a bit chaotic and I'm restraining a kiddo from attacking the bushes or chasing one back to the playground, an outside observer can tell that I really do love my job and my kiddos.

Grateful Day 4

Today I am grateful for left overs/fend for yourself night. I do really love to cook, but there are sometimes I just don't feel like cooking or don't have the time. Thankfully, there were lots of options in the fridge tonight from meals I made earlier this week. Our choices were sesame noodles with broccoli, mushroom and truffle oil pizza and green chile. I opted for the green chile (the veggie version), mostly because it needs to be eaten, but also so I could take the pizza for lunch tomorrow. Shawn, the foodie that he is, chose to make himself some Ramen.

Happy Friday Eve!

Grateful Day 3

Today I am grateful for chocolate. Yes, chocolate. I'm not a huge candy eater, but there's something about Halloween candy that does me in. It doesn't help that we had hardly any trick or treaters this year and there are tons of leftovers lying around. Besides, today was the kind of day where I needed something to help me stay sane and wine is probably not ok at school :) So, hooray for little Halloween chocolates, especially when they come in the form of peanut butter M&Ms!

Gratitude Day 2

I'd love to pair each day with a photo, but it's just not gonna happen. In fact, I've taken a grand total of 10 photos in the past 3 months and those were all project photos. Sad. On to the gratitude....

Today was a bit of a rough day. Not sure what was in the air, but things were challenging in my classroom. More challenging than normal. So, today I am grateful for the gift of patience. I have been told many, many times that I am a very patient person. In fact, I once had a client's mom write on an evaluation "Erin has the patience of a saint." I'm definitely not always patient, but I do seem to have more of it than some people. It's a blessing. Especially, when your day starts with more than one student coming in screaming.

30 Days of Gratitude

Though it is very likely I won't be able to complete all 30 days of this challenge, I'm going to give it a try. My November is ridiculously busy. Yet, there's something about this challenge that speaks to me. So here goes, my gratitude for day 1:

Today I am grateful for my ability to hold it together under pressure. The last few months have been a huge challenge and November is shaping up to be a rather crazy month. I like challenges, but some days I wonder if I'll make it. If you know me at all, you know its not that unusual for me to put A LOT on my plate. Thankfully, some how, I usually make it work, even if it means I have to neglect a few things for awhile....or really NEED that glass of wine :)

Happy November!

Musical Interlude

Love, love, love this cover of Death Cab by Ingrid Michaelson and Matt Kearney. One of my fave death cab songs with two amazing voices. Sigh.

Pumpkin Chronicles

So If you know me at all, you know I LOVE anything pumpkin. Pumpkins are one of the many reasons I LOVE October and fall. Sadly, this year, my October has been a little less pumpkin filled than normal.

No glitter pumpkins, they're still packed in a box with the rest of the Halloween decor.
No pumpkin candles.
No live pumpkins at my doorstep.
No pumpkin spice lattes (caffeine and I no longer get along)
No visits to the pumpkin patch
No pumpkin treats.....ok I did get pumpkin birthday cake earlier this month, but there's not been nearly enough pumpkin foods around here since.

Thankfully this weekend I did slightly remedy this situation. I still have no Halloween decor out (though there are cute little kindergarten pumpkin projects hanging in my classroom), but I do now have pumpkin treats. Friday night I hung out with my sister and Toni and we made Pumpkin Whoopie Pies. Yum. Since there was still half a can of pumpkin left and I woke up raring to go way too early this morning, I decided to bake a pumpkin pie. Double Yum. Now all I need is some pumpkin pasta or pumpkin risotto and my pumpkin treat fantasies would be pretty complete. Maybe. I believe that there's never enough pumpkin, but my October is feeling much better now.

Happy Sunday!

Predictable Much?

So once again, I've not blogged in days. I've thought about it, does that count? Believe me, the fact I've even thought about it, given my craziness lately is pretty impressive. So, here goes, a predictable blog post from me.

That's right, Thursday Thankful time.

1. Professional development training today that allowed me to have an hour for lunch (time enough to go home) and get home by 3:15.

2. Email from the speech therapist saying all went well in my classroom this morning without me. She did say it wasn't the same as having calm and steady Erin in charge though, which is nice to hear.

3. Cool weather. It actually feels kind of like fall.

4. Broccoli potato soup for dinner and a caramel apple for dessert.

5. Extra time at home = extra assignment finished and extra things crossed off my to do list.

Maybe, if you're lucky, I'll get a post in before next week's addition of Thursday Thankfuls.

Happy Thursday!

Thursday Thankfuls

unknown image credit

1. SLP and OT in my class all morning. hooray for extra hands!
2. Cupcake sauvignon blanc
3. honeycrisp apples...my fave
4. home before 5pm!
5. project runway
6. self mandated work/homework free night
7. SC sneaks...loving Mendocino, hmm wonder why?
8. Friday eve
9. strawberry ice cream
10. anthro gift card (thanks Ellen!)

Happy Thursday!

The 10 on 10/10/10

So I had intended to take a picture to document my happenings at 10:10 on 10/10/10....cause I'm silly like that...but it was about 10:24 before I actually remembered this idea. Oh well, it would have been an uninteresting picture. At 10:10, you would have found me in my pj's (which are not exactly camera appropriate) in bed with my ipad reading this book for my grad school class. Exciting stuff. I'm not about to wait until 10:10 pm to take a picture either, you will likely find me doing much of the same thing anyway. So instead my friends, you get another one of my famous lists. I know, aren't you lucky? Not another list you say, but this is a special list...I give you

The 10 on 10/10/10 (posted at 10 something am):

1. Slept in today (8:55) and stayed in bed until almost 10:30, though I was technically doing school work it was still nice and cozy.

2. I am eating leftover pumpkin cake for breakfast. I know, bad kid, but YUM!

3. I will spend much of today doing laundry, cleaning, lesson planning and working on my classes. Yet another exciting Sunday at my house. Shawn and I do have an exciting outing to Super Target planned this afternoon however.

4. Hoping to get my Halloween/Fall decor out and settled one of these days.I miss my glitter pumpkins. I'd love to clean my courtyard and get some fall flowers too. Maybe this week, in between teaching, prepping, meetings and Dr. appointments...

5. Am in desperate need of an Anthro trip to indulge with my birthday coupon. If nothing else I need to go visit the coats and pretend I live somewhere cold enough to justify buying yet another coat....I fully admit I have a coat obsession, but really, just look at these beauties:

6. What I would really like to do today instead of the items mentioned in number 3 is scrap (I was invited to play with a few friends and had to say no), bake pumpkin goodies, play halloween decor and knit. Doesn't that sound like a much better day than what I have planned? I'm vowing right now to spend at least part of my winter break doing crafty things and baking. You can hold me to it.

7. Speaking of crafty things and holidays, have you seen Ali's preview to this year's December daily? LOVE. I have done the December daily twice, but decided not to last year. I'm pretty sure given my hectic schedule its not happening this year, but I sure do get inspired by Ali's posts each year. Love the simple framework and the transparency idea. Maybe I'll do a quick and easy digital version? Who am I kidding, I still haven't finished my week in the life from months ago and am months behind on Project 12.....

8. Still thinking of last nights delicious dinner at St. Francis. I've been meaning to go to St. Francis for awhile, as my mom and sister rave about it. A late birthday dinner with just the two of us seemed like the perfect opportunity. It was pretty crowded when we got there, kind of a hipster, trendy sort of place. We waited for about 40 minutes in the bar for a table, enjoying a glass of wine and the cool weather. By the time we were seated at a little outside table, the crowds had died down, which was nice. I enjoyed the roasted salmon, served on red quinoa with tomatoes and avocado (delish) and Shawn had the fig, arugula and blue cheese flatbread and 1.5 servings of cornbread on the side (both were quite tasty). In fact, I'm hoping I can convince Shawn to share his leftover flatbread with me today. Sadly they were out of the chocolate cake with caramel sauce and peanut butter gelato for dessert. We opted for a vanilla cream cake with caramel and vanilla gelato, which was tasty, but definitely not chocolate and peanut butter.

9. Am hoping Shawn follows through with his offer to make today cleaning day. I'd love to have a few boxes, piles and projects removed. Clutter definitely doesn't help my stress levels.

10. Thinking of pumpkin recipes and crossing my fingers that soup weather is not too far off. Things have definitely cooled off around here, but its not quite soup weather. Looking at the forecast for the week, it looks like 90's are returning, which I'm not too thrilled about. At least the mornings and evenings are cooling off nicely and we can pretend its fall for part of the day. Wishing I could make another Halloween visit to OR this year to enjoy the wonders of fall. Maybe next year.

Ok, I've officially spend way too much time on this version of the 10. Now to check 10 things off my to do list for today....

Happy 10/10/10!

Today

Today I....

wanted to pull my hair out, more than once...
especially since it wasn't pretty thanks to the untimely death of my curling iron

was thankful I'm a patient person

was extra thankful for my para professionals

read/sang about 8 books to my class

am covered in bruises and cuts

enjoyed an adult beverage...
and some leftover birthday cake

am ready for bed before 9pm

crossed a couple things off my to do list...
missed a few I should have taken care of

am experiencing some reflux thanks to birthday indulgences

am itching to get back to knitting

got paid

am wearing a cute t-shirt

still have pretty fingernails painted this color

am remembering to share my latest card for Simply ArTistiC:


thank goodness its Friday

Thursday Thankfuls

So I missed my Tuesday 10. How about a Thursday Thankfuls instead? It was kind of a crazy day, so I think this list might be a good idea. Today I am thankful for:

1. Chocolate covered pretzels. Yum.
2. A classroom budget to spend!
3. I only have a fat lip, bruised gum and sore tooth and not a missing tooth, torn lip or worse after running into a playground bar while rounding up a kiddo on the playground this morning.
4. Easy meals on hand in the fridge. I don't have energy to make the spinach and mushroom quiche I had planned for tonight.
5. Good friends who leave me messages and check in on me on FB.
6. A husband with a clean shaven face. I love a good clean cheek to rub.
7. Little boy giggles.
8. Tomorrow is October, my favorite month.
9. Mindless games on the ipad.
10. Several things checked off my to do list.

And because I haven't posted a picture in awhile, here's a random household vignette.

Is This Thing On?

Is anybody still out there?

Do I still have any readers?

Have you missed me?

Life has been pretty crazy since I last blogged. August and September have pretty much been a whirlwind. On August 4th I was offered a position as a junior high self contained teacher and was mentally gearing myself up to teach older kids. However, on August 6th I interviewed over the phone (while at the salon for Miss N's bridal prep) and was offered an elementary school autism position at the school I was hoping to be hired by. I got lucky. I officially started working at Desert Springs Elementary school August 19th, four days into the new school year. On that day, I learned that I would not be teaching 3rd-5th grade kiddos with autism, but would for a variety of reasons, be switching with the K-1 autism teacher. The first few days were a crazy mix of observing, transitioning, moving rooms, unpacking, getting acclimated, etc. The class was officially mine August 24th and I haven't sat down much since. :)

I have spent the last 5 weeks or so tracking down materials, working on a functional system for my kids and my classroom, figuring out school policies and obligations, prepping and planning. In addition to my new job, I am still finishing up my teaching cert, working on my Master in Education degree and seeing 3 therapy kids. Life is crazy. Most days, I get to school early to get things done in my room, spend 6 hours managing a VERY active group of 5 and 6 year old children with autism, eat lunch in my classroom while prepping activities or answering emails, stay for another hour or more after school and head home for a quick dinner and an evening of lesson planning, material prepping and lots and lots of my own school work. My current grad school class, Philosophy and Ethics in Education, just might be the death of me.

I haven't done much else. No scrapping, no paper fun (except for my monthly Simply ArTistiC card), no knitting, no long conversations with friends, little reading, magazines, tv, internet surfing, etc. My personal email often reads 200+ new messages. I have no clue what's going on in the world, save the little bits I catch on NPR to and from work. My house is a disaster. Thankfully, things are lightening up a bit. I have managed to have a couple quick chats with a few friends, have a lunch date with my sister, watch the first season of The Tudors with Shawn, shop and buy a new dishwasher and play some Words With Friends on the ipad. This past weekend, I completed two classes and took the midterm for a third. There is progress being made and my mile long to do list has had a few dents put in it. Bottom line though, its going to be a busy year. Exhausted might become my status quo. Blogging may or may not happen. I'd like to get back into a routine of at least posting my Tuesday 10 and weekend updates (though it might get old to hear about how I cut, colored, glued and did lots of school work all weekend long). I'd like to start watching some fall tv, preferably before 10 pm, since I tend to fall asleep during my shows at that time...

Thanks to those who have checked in on me via blog comments or emails. I appreciate it. I am still here. I'm doing fine, just a little overwhelmed. As exhausted and overwhelmed as I am, I am loving my new job. It's been a positive switch and I feel like I'm where I need to be. I miss music therapy a little, but use a lot of it in my classroom. I've already seen a change for the better with my kids and am getting lots of positive feedback from other teachers. Things are good, just busy. Here's hoping I can at least provide weekly updates. Now, I'm off to enjoy a must needed glass of wine.

Happy Weekend.

It's Been Awhile

Dear Blogland,

It's been awhile since I posted. I've been rather busy. Since I last posted, I have:

had 3 job interviews
been offered 2 teaching jobs
flew to Oregon
went to the coast
played bridesmaid for Miss Nicole
watched two lovely people get married
played with little Miss E and her mama
flew home
ran a million and five errands
spilled water on my cell phone
thanked Shawn for fixing said cell phone
made a million phone calls
said good bye to lots of kids

...and about a million other things that I will gradually update. Don't want to share too much about the new job, as I'm not officially hired yet due to some technical difficulties. Stay tuned. In the mean time, here are some pictures from the foggy Oregon coast for you to enjoy.

He kind of smiles:


Family photo:


Family high jinx:


Sisters:


My cute parents:


Besties:


Depoe Bay:


Happy Sunday!

Around Here

Entertaining Miss Addie (my parents dog):


yes, that a rock in her mouth and she'd love for you to throw it for her ALL day long.

Enjoying the cooler overcast weather and the dog with 2 walks around the neighborhood today.
Pasta salad made for dinner (with yesterday's scones and Pepto for Shawn in the background):


Last minute shopping for the upcoming wedding
Finishing up guest book for said wedding:


Drinking wine
Hoping for this messy Shawn project to be finished soon:


Purchasing this to house above project
Lots of laundry:


Not cleaning
Wondering if I'll be teaching or doing therapy in the next couple weeks
Tons of school work
ipad fun
Occasional bouts of knitting:


Loving the launch of Simply ArTistiC today. My friend Angie has started this fun new challenge site for ATC's and I'm thrilled to be a part of it. The theme right now is Alice in Wonderland. Here's my card for prompt #1:


Wishing you a Happy August!

Thursday Thankfuls

A few things to be thankful for today:

1. RAIN!!!
2. Shawn's dinner night.
3. True Blood season 2 on DVD with Shawn
4. a semi lazy morning
5. a strawberry popsicle

Happy Thursday!

Not My Favorite Tuesday

Today's was not my favorite day...scheduling issues, tire problems, difficult clients, a million and ten degree heat (whatever, its HOT)....ugh. So, to counteract the yucky day, today's 10 shall be a list of good things happening around here.

1. Guest designing at The Girls Loft. Margie contacted me awhile back about doing some work for her and I was more than thrilled. I really loved the July kit and the oh so fabulous Girls Paperie On Holiday line. So fun to play with. Go check out my stuff here.

2. Breyer's mint chocolate chip ice cream for dessert.

3. My new love, technology love that is.

4. A new artsy project in the works, debuting August 1st. I've joined a fabulous group of super talented ladies for a little something fun and challenging. Stay tuned for more details. Can't wait to share!

5. I have a super soft and yummy yellow purse from Italy courtesy of my wonderful sister. It makes me happy.

6. I also have an adorable new orange and pink apron that showed up in the mail recently courtesy of my amazing mother in law. I shall photo and share later (along with the purse). Shawn makes fun of me because I have like 5 aprons, but I LOVE them and he has like 87 (I'm in an exaggerating mood) computers so whatever.

7. One final exam and on final project left to finish and I am officially done with the first half of my post bacc program. I'll still be working on a grad school class and quickly signing up for new classes, so I'm not getting much of a break, but am happy to be making good progress.

8. 3 weeks till I get to go to OR for the most fabulous red and brown wedding ever. Can't wait. Better get a move on with the dress and the guest book.....

9. Shawn went grocery shopping today. One less thing for me to worry about. Thank goodness.

10. I have pretty new toes painted this color. I've so needed a pedicure and took a much needed study break to go get one with Steph yesterday. That and some sushi was just what I needed.

I'm off to crawl into bed soon and say good bye to today.
Night.

Musical Interlude

Go check out Levi's Pioneer Sessions on You Tube. Musicians like Jason Mraz, Colbie Caillat and The Shins, recording songs that inspired them. Pretty fun. Here's one of my favorites, She & Him singing Fools Rush In. Love Zooey Deschanel.

7 on 7/7/10

7 Things I will do today:

1. conduct only 1 music therapy session
2. take a final exam
3. have lunch with my sister
4. work on classes
5. do some scrapping for a guest designer assignment
6. make lemon and olive chicken (for Shawn) and Moroccan quinoa for dinner
7. make hair, dentist and doctor appointments

What are your 7 things today?

The Green 10

Because I recently read this book and have green living on the mind, today's Tuesday 10 is about being green. If you know me at all, you know I'm pretty fanatical about chemical free stuff and I'm pretty conscious of living green. Here are some of my favorite green life style choices.

1. stainless steel water bottles and filtered tap water-plastic water bottles are made of petroleum (not a renewable resource) and they leach chemicals. not good.

2. all natural cleaning products-better for the environment (this stuff goes down the drain and into the ground), better for your household air quality, better for your skin (which has to touch the stuff). I use method of seventh generation products. I also use a lot of vinegar, lemon juice and baking soda.

3. all natural, paraben free, sodium lauryl sulfate free bath and beauty products-I could really go on and on about the issues with the chemicals in your common bath and beauty products. I'm sure some of you are already saying, please don't get her started...so rather than drone on and on about the scary things you are putting on your body (which don't get filtered through your liver if they're coming in through the skin), I will allow you to do your own reading and research. Here are a few links:
The Good Human
Environmental Working Group
Breast Cancer Fund

4. reusable bags-I keep four in my car and two in my purse and I actually use them. All the time.

5. glass food storage containers-again, I'm not a fan of plastic. I have very little of it in my kitchen.

6. eat, buy local-I've been trying more and more to buy from local business and to support local agriculture. I've had a hard time finding a CSA here that works for me, but I'd love to be a part of one. There are plenty of farmers markets I can choose around here. Unfortunately, none that are too close by (being green means not driving all over town for stuff you know) or operate on days I'm able to attend. My favorite restaurants are local restaurants that use organic products and local goods and produce. I'd much rather eat at one of these restaurants than a big chain restaurant.

7. buy organic-organic is more expensive and not always easy to find. I don't buy everything organic and I don't always buy organic, but when I have a choice and I can afford to do so, I choose organic. When I don't buy organic, I use a natural fruit and vegetable cleaner to wash my produce. After reading the above book, I'm going to make more effort to buy organic cotton, silk and wool. I was shocked to discover that cotton is one of the worlds most heavily pesticide covered products. I pretty much live in cotton, from clothes to sheets to towels, its what I buy most. Gross. When I need new sheets and towels, I am certainly going to buy organic.

8. be a veggie-ok, here's where most of you say, whatever Erin. I know. It takes a lot of energy, space, synthetic hormones, byproducts, transportation costs, etc. to make our world's meat and chicken. Cows and feed lots produce tons of methane gas. It's easy for me. I DO NOT like the taste of meat or poultry. If its not so easy for you, try to eat less meat. Eat a vegetarian meal once and awhile and if you are buying meat, buy grass fed beef, free range chickens, sustainable fish and hormone free dairy.

9. reduce, reuse, recycle-you know the song...I'm big on recycling. We usually fill our recycle bin every week and the garbage bin every couple. Anything that can be recycled, I do it. I'm also a big fan of reusing things when you can. Rinse out jars, reuse plastic zip bags, use back sides of paper, etc. I know I'm a scrapbooker and therefore consume more paper than I should, so I make a conscious effort to use less of it elsewhere. I'm also a big fan of buying recycled products. In fact today I restocked our TP and paper towels, both with 100% recycled products. I'm also trying to be much better at thinking about purchases before I make them and not buy things that I don't need or love. We all make little silly purchases here and there and many times its just wasteful. Make more conscious decisions.

10. buy sustainable products-like bamboo floors, which I will have someday, when we can afford and have the time to pull out this chemical ridden, disgusting carpet. If you have the choice between two products, opt for the one that's made of natural, sustainable products versus the manufactured, plastic crap, I mean product.

Happy Green Tuesday!

More Alex

For Your Viewing Pleasure

My favorite So You Think You Can Dance contestant. Amazing!

Tuesday 10

A few things from my shopping wish list.

From Anthro:








From ModCloth:





I could never wear the yellow dress, not my color, but isn't it adorable?

Sigh.

Happy Tuesday!