A Confession!

Well, I have a confession.  I have self diagnosed myself with OCD.  I can completely become obsessed and a nervous wreck about some things in my world. For example, heights.  I always think anything to high in the air sounds like a good idea, until I am up there and then loose it!  Getting on a plane with me is comical.  I have my rituals, and if you are with me you must complete them as well.  I have to touch the outside of the plane with my right hand as I step on the plane and say a quick prayer.  As we take off, I have to say another prayer that angels with lift the plane and keep it afloat.  I am nuts, I am aware.  I have to check my flat/curling iron multiple times upon leaving the house.  I have also been known to turn around after leaving the house to check one more time.  I blame my mother for this one! (But, really, can't we always find a way to blame our mothers! ha!)

I like things done a certain way and at a certain time.  My family and I are movie-a-holics.  My sister will watch any movie, at any time. She loves them all!  Me on the other hand, there are certain movies that must be played at certain times.  The movie You've Got Mail was on tonight. 

 

 Now, I love this movie. I am big Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks fan. I started to watch it and realized, "This is a FALL movie, I need to watch this in the fall/winter.  This is not a summer movie."  I had this same feeling when Harry Met Sally came on the other day (BTW, can you tell I am off for summer with the mention of all these movies?).  

 

I was in a movie watching mood, but those were not getting it done.  So, I told my MANfriend, really he is too old and we have been together too long to be a boyfriend, I wanted to watch The Great Outdoors.  Now, THAT is a summer movie.   

 

I also asked that we go get some frozen yogurt to complete the experience.  I am now waiting for the Pirate/Angel baseball game to be over so we can get our summer movie started! I am so excited I can barely contain myself.  And just because we need some pictures up in here, here are some of my favorite furry man, Mr. Tigger from today!  

My view from my patio from this fine evening!  #nofilter
 

What is your favorite summer movie to watch?????
 

What I Am Loving Right Now....

1.  First and foremost, there are only 7 more days left of school, can I a "Praise, Jesus!"

And this is why teachers need summer! (via pinterest)
 

2.  Working out! I moved to a new city two years ago (gasp!) and since then I think I have been homesick! Mind you, I only moved 20 minutes from my hometown.  I am a creature of habit and a homebody, so this change has really messed me up and consequentially, gained a few pounds! :( This new town doesn't have a large gym, like a 24 Fitness or something comparable.  This has been my excuse.  I have wondered many a time, where do people go to work out here?  I was going to the next town over for a while, but it wasn't convenient and a bit of a meat market.   To make a long story short, (ha!) I found a boxing gym around the corner from my house from a recommendation from a friend. I.AM.IN.LOVE!!!!!!!!  Yes, I am boxing! This girly girl has pink boxing gloves and everything! Look out, I am bad ass! Plus they have regular fitness classes, yoga and TRX (my favorite)!!!

 

3. On that same workout note, I bought Old Navy compression capris because I had heard how great they are.  To be perfectly honest, I think I might like them more then my Lululemon's! Plus they were on sale for only $15! SCORE!!!!!

4. Laying by my parents pool ALL.WEEKEND.LONG!! My happy place!

 

5. My Puppy!!! Merely because he will always make my list and I needed a fifth thing to round out the list! :)

See you later alligators!!!

A Countdown of ME!!!

I saw this over with Erin Shades of Gray and a Pinch of Pink (you know us Erins need to stick together)! I thought it was really cute and a good way to get to know someone. So, without further adieu....

TEN OF MY FAVORITE FOODS:
(FYI-this is hard one because I started Weight Watchers last week, more on that later.  Here is the stuff love, with no thoughts about points:) )
1.Pizza with peperoni and pineapple, preferably from Toppers :)
2. Chips and salsa, maybe with gucamole or maybe queso dip--mmmmmhmmm!
3. My mother or grandmothers baked manicotti- this will make you take back things you never stole!!  Italian women know their way around a kitchen!
4. Lumaconi (which is meat, spinach and cheese in a shell) from Lanza's.  If you are ever in Lake Tahoe, this is a MUST!!

 

5. Chocolate Malted Crunch Ice Cream from Thrifty
6. Sour Watermelon gummy things-you know the things that give you cavities!
7. Apple and peanut butter- diet or not, I probably eat this daily!
8. My mother's tacos with homemade shells
9. Hotdogs with mash potatoes and cheese- My mother's creation that are fantastic! She makes little boats out of the hot dogs and puts the mash potatoes and cheese in the middle and then bakes them! Delish
10. Sushi!

NINE ALL TIME FAVORITE MOVIES-this one is going to be hard, I like a lot of movies!
1. Father of the Bride
2. My Best Friend's Wedding

3. Little Women
4. Now and Then
5. The Parent Trap- I love both versions!
6. Remember the Titans
7. You Got Mail
8. Miracle of 34th Street-Again, I love both versions! I could watch this movie any time of the year!
9. Sex in the City-the first movie

EIGHT CELEBRITIES I WOULD LOVE TO MARRY
1. Ben Affleck- A number one in my book!

2. Matt Damon- "You like apples? How about them apples" Name that movie!!
3. Bradley Copper
4. Justin Timberlake
5. Anderson Cooper- Gay shmay! :)
6. Ryan Renyolds
7. Jude Law- I try to block out the whole nanny situation!

And of the piece of resistance

8. John Stamos- he will always be my Uncle Jesse

SEVEN THINGS I AM LOVING RIGHT NOW
1. Duck Dynasty- y'all I just came across this show and it is fantastic, JACK!

2. My Weight Watcher Iphone and Ipad apps!
3. My spin bike at home
4. My parents old car while mine is in the shop! Thank the good Lord for parents!
5. JCrew-for having 50% off their clearance.  Got to love getting pants for $12!
6. The new Britney Spears/Will.I.Am song! I am a sucker for some Brit!
7. Not having any essays to grade right now!

SIX PLACES I WOULD LIKE TO VISIT
1. Bora Bora
2. Tahiti

3. Australia-My aunt, uncle and cousins all live there and I would love to visit.  That 14 hour flight is a bit intimidating though!
4. Greece
5. French Riveria
6. Amsterdam- not for the obvious reasons you are thinking.  I teach the "Diary of Anne Frank" and I would love to see of all that history!

FIVE GAMES I PLAYED AS A KID
1. Spoons

2. Scrabble
3. Poker- my dad taught us early! :)
4. B.S.-same father is the worst at this game.  He will have the cards and still BS!
5. Monopoly-My dad would MAKE us say, "Pleasure doing business with you" after ever transaction!

FOUR THINGS I WOULD RATHER NEVER SEE AGAIN
1. My scale at its current number
2. Any of the animal cruelty commercials, I have to turn the channel! I just can't!
3. ANYTHING to do with the Honey Boo Boo franchise!
4. People who use double negatives in the sentences- DRIVES.ME.CRAZY!!!!!!!!!

THREE THINGS I WOULD LIKE TO DO THIS YEAR
1. Getting and staying my goal weight
2. Not being afraid of trying new things
3. Live life to the fullest

TWO FACTS ABOUT ME
My mom got my name from Vince Scully's (the Dodger announcer) daughter.  She used to go to their house as a kid and always like the name. I have wanted to be a teacher since I was five years old!

ONE MEANING BEHIND THE BLOG NAME
Well, I love the color pink and my nickname in high school was "goody two shoes"!

*All pictures courtesy of Pinterest

Life Lately!!

I am such a creature of habit! Let, me explain.... I love routines.  I love setting routines and sticking to them.  It must be a teacher thing.  If I don't schedule something, really anything, it just won't happen.  Thus, my blog has suffered.  I have had such great intentions, but to be perfectly honest I have not set time in my "schedule", to actually blog. Well, things are about to change my friend! I now have my Erin Condren planner and I am set, so watch out! :)

So, what HAVE I been up to during this glorious season that teachers call SUMMER? I have redone one of my bathrooms (pictures to follow)! Laying by the pool and going to the beach as much as humanly possible.

I have also been making lots of cookies.  This side business is so much easier to manage when school is not in session.  Here are some of the latest and greatest!

One of my mom's best friend's is about to have her 40th Wedding Anniversary and 60th Birthday in the same week.  Shh...don't tell her, but we are sending this babies to her!

The birds are for one of my best friend's baby shower's!

Now, that I have set aside time for this lil ol' blog, plan on seeing me much more! 

Confessional Friday

Confessional Friday: LET'S DO THIS!!!!!




1. My students' research papers were due on Tuesday.  I had a plan to grade 18 per day to get them finished by Open House next Thursday.  But, guess who hasn't graded a single one? Yep, that would be me!

2.  On that note, state testing started this week, which is really nice because the days we test we don't have classes.  This relates to a lot of down time.  Time I should have spent grading said research papers, but what did I do instead?  I made posters for "Roll of Thunder" the next novel we are reading.  It is sooooo much more fun than grading.  Have I mentioned how much I hate love grading, especially 5-6 page research papers?

3.  I think it is official: I am addicted to Starbucks.  My mornings are just so much brighter when I can stop in for my Venti Skinny Vanilla Latte.  MMMMM! 

4. I may have kindly told the women who manages my parents timeshare in Lake Tahoe about herself today, while pretending to be my mom! In all fairness, my mother was standing next to me and we sound identical (my dad, sister and grandparents usually can't tell us apart on the phone).  I may have told her I don't appreciate her attitude considering I am an owner and that I will be speaking to my husband about this issue.  Again, I will be an owner one day as this will be passed down to my sister and me. My teacher voice was out and in full force this afternoon!


5. I have set my alarm a half hour early every day this week to work out ( my "booty call") and  I have reset it for my normal time! Sigh!

6.  I am going to start my 5 day slim down from Tone It Up nutrition plan on Monday! Cross my heart and hope to die! ;P

7. I have not been shopping in over a month! I am starting to shake! JCREW HERE I COME because I am only slightly obsessed, (only slightly)!




Well, I certainly feel much better now I have got all of that off my chest! Happy Friday!



(All images are from Pinterest)

Like A Kid on Christmas Morning!

Okay Y'all,
     I have heard so many people talk up the Erin Condren Life Planner.  Now, I live and die by my planner at school, but I have never had one for my every day life.  I was starting to use my lesson planner as a "life planner".  This is not so good when one is trying to start up a cookie company. 

Needless to say, I have drank the Erin Condren punch.  There really is so much to love with this planner.  I was eagerly waiting for the arrival of said planner.  I was checking every day to see when the package was going to show up at my door.   When it came, I looked just like the picture above!

Sooooooo happy with this planner I can't even tell you.  All my friends were admiring it, I have turned them into believers too!!!! :)  If you have any doubts, don't! It is seriously awesome!

Anderson Cooper-The ADHD Debate

Hello All,

      So, I am a Anderson Cooper junkie.  I just love watching him when I come home from work each day.  Plus, I think he is too cute (even though I am pretty sure he doesn't play for my team :( )!

Today on Anderson, they were debating whether or not to medicate your child when diagnosed with ADD or ADHD.  Now, I am not a parent, but I am a teacher.  I want all of my students to have equal access to my teaching and to learn while under my watch.  I get pretty sick and tired of people throwing us hardworking teachers under the bus.  The lady on the panel, who believes in "unschooling" is the only way to go for your students.  Unschooling means to curriculum and students should learn what they want when they want.  Now, this sounds great in theory, however, how are you shaping you child to be successful in the real world? It concept seems a little too hippy dippy for me and my A type teacher personality.  Know what I am sayin'?!?  In any case, this lady really got under my skin.  She was really quite angry and defensive, which is usually a sign in my book.  Just sayin'!


The thing I found the funniest is that Anderson asked the two boys of the parents on the panel, one who takes medication and one who is being "unschooled", what they think about their current condition and how their method is working for them.  Watch the video and see if you can figure out which is which.  







One of the people in the audience commented based on her experience with her own daughter, that these children sometimes need to be medicated because they could have brilliant thoughts and they cannot get them out. It reminded me of these boys.  One had a very clear stream of consciousness that was easy to follow and the other was a bit harder to follow, if you ask me.  If unschooling works for you great, but it wouldn't you want your child, at the very least, be able to put together and cohesive verbal response?

 I feel like there is a time and a place for everything.  I think that the truth always lies somewhere in the middle.  I am not by any means saying that medication is the end all be all, but it is something that can help students access the material easier!

Just Another Manic Monday... (Recap on Tuesday :)

Via www.ridingtherollercoaster.com

Monday morning came wayyy to fast, as it usually does! I may have pressed the snooze button once, twice, three times, but really who is counting, right?  The one nice thing about having naturally curly hair, is that on a "curly" day (which is every other time I wash it, generally), I don't really have to dry it. I just throw moose, gel and spray gel (this routine is for another post), do my bangs and I am off.  I get a lot of slack for this at work because I generally look pretty put together, but I don't spend a lot of time.  This is has been a process of trial and error.  Sorry off on a tangent...sigh....I tend to do that a lot, I apologize!

So, in any case I was out the door, breakfast in hand in a half hour.  I do have to say I was pretty proud of myself.  I am watching the clock as I drive to work because I have the drive down to a science, as well.  I know that if I can pass by the Starbucks around the corner from school by 7:55, I have enough time to run in and get the morning pick me up, I so desperately need! I seriously heart my Skinny Vanilla Lattes!  As I am approaching the "Starbiz" with KISS FM's "Ryan's Roses" on the radio (Sidenote: If you have Ryan Seacrest in the mornings, here it is KISS FM, Monday Mornings are the BEST with Ryan's Roses.  They call a spouse that is suspected of cheating and tell them they get free flowers.  Then they ask who they want to send them to and a note for the card.  Then you know if they are really cheating! Y'all, this is good stuff! Be on the lookout for it!)  I realize that it is 8:00 am.  DARN! No Starbucks for me this morning! :(

I fight through the school parking lot.  I am totally convinced that a school parking lot brings out the worst in everyone! The worst tempers, the worst driving skills, the worst manners, just the WORST!  School doesn't start until 8:15, so I go into the teacher's lounge and decide I could try the coffee machine in there, I couldn't drink a Diet Coke that early.  At this point, I was desperate for the nectar of the gods, GIVE ME CAFFEINE! So, I roll the dice, I didn't even know what button to press.  I decide on the "Cafe Mocha".

Now, I am a pack mule walking/running to my classroom with this hot coffee in my hand trying not to spill it on my new Frye boots myself or any unsuspecting children running walking through the halls.  I make it to my room, my homeroom files in, I set my coffee down and unpack my belongings.  I set my phone down on my desk after placing it on silent. (Disclaimer: I know my phone should be inside my desk, but we are reading a novel right now, which is on my I Phone that gets played through my radio.)


Now, it must be noted, I am half Italian, I talk with my hands A.LOT..  It goes without saying, during the course of a lecture I am not sure if the students are paying attention to the content I am covering or just watching my hands.  Hey, as long as they are engaged, I am good with it!  I am explaining something to the class and I am not even sure how I did it, but my coffee, mind you, I have yet to take a sip out of said coffee, gets knocked over right on to my phone.  I yell, "OH MY!"  The kids are clearly now totally engaged in the plight to safe the cell phone.  They tell me to put it in rice! Like, "Yes children, let me get out my bag of rice that I have in my cupboard and plop it right in there."  Luckily, I caught it just in time.  I dried it off with a paper towel and it seems to be working.  The only thing was where you plug the it into the charger seemed to have some coffee in there, everything seemed to work just fine!  I stuck some paper towel up there and it seemed to grab all the moisture.

Everything seemed to work just fine, even though I was totally preoccupied with it during any break I had!  I plugged it into my radio, the screen was fine.  I thought, "Man, I dogged a bullet there!" Well, that was until I turned my phone off silent and it started to ring.  The ring was no bueno.  It did not sound right at all! So, I decide I need to take a trip to Verizon.  I love my Verizon store.  They are always so helpful.  I had to wait for a few minutes, but there was the cutest old man there, that it totally made it worth it!  Yesterday, however, not so helpful, they promptly sent me to the the "Fruit" store, if you catch my drift.  The awesome geniuses of the Fruit store could not see my for 40 minutes.  "Oh darn, 40 minutes in the mall....Whatever shall I do?"  I dragged myself to Nordstroms and walked around, went to Sephora to buy some makeup and nail polish, went to JCrew (they didn't have anything on sale :(, I live for their sales).  I made it back to the Fruit store, waited for just a minute and then the GREAT genius came to my rescue! I told him my story, smiling sweetly the whole time ;)  I had not tripped any of my sensors (whatever that means), he tested my speaker and confirmed it did not sound right.  So, he conveniently forgot about the whole story I told him about the earlier events, thank goodness. Soooo.... I got a brand spanking new phone! SCORE! He was seriously awesome! To be perfectly honest, I use the speaker has my hands free device in my car and I listened to music at my desk that way too.  So, I was thinking it didn't sound totally right before this horrible incident.

Lessons Learned:
       *Always keep your phone in your desk/away from all liquids
       *Always buy Fruit Store products because they seriously ROCK YOUR SOCKS!
       *Don't press snooze too many times, so that you can always have time for Starbucks! :)

MMMM.... COOKIES!!!!

COOKIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



    Since I was a very little girl, my mom and I have always made cookies together.  Mama Doreen's chocolate chip cookies are legendary!! I would bring them to school, if she didn't want them in the house, my friends just LOVED those days! Then, I took the reigns and started making them with my own twist.  Now, they are good, but not as good as hers!


  I decided this summer, I would try my hand at sugar cookies.  Not the kind on the roll, but the kind from scratch. I read blogs, watched YouTube videos and quickly learned... "HEY! I have got some talent!" (This relevation might have been encouraged more by friends and family, then from myself)  So, I started making all sorts of cookies for any occasion I could think of!

These are some for a little summer BBQ... (note: these are from one of the very first times I EVER made cookies)

Then, I made some for a Labor Day Party:

This turned into my first paying job for a baby shower:

Then I made some cookies for my friend's son's first birthday, the theme was fall/pumpkins:

It was my boyfriend's niece's third birthday, so I sent her some cookies! I tried my hand at Bridget's (from bakeat350.blogspot.com ) "signature" cookies! They turned out so cute, I think!

So, with all of this being said, I have started my own little business:

Things are going well! I am not looking to make this a new career, but just a fun thing to do on the side!!! If you know any one who needs cookies! Please feel free to contact me either through this blog or by email!

Toodles!