My Birthday!

I turned 28 yesterday!  I had a fantastic day.  Here's how it went down.

*Woke up and relaxed around the apartment for awhile

 *Opened my present from Marc

*Went to Massage Envy for an hour massage

*Opened my present to myself that happened to come in the mail

Leaf necklace from Etsy.com.  Love this site!! 

Went to The Oceanaire for my birthday dinner

Walked to the W Hotel and had a few drinks

The W Hotel's little river was right at our feet

My handsome guy



Jason Biggs from American Pie



A few weeks ago Marc and I saw Tara Ried too.  The cast of American Pie is staying a block away from our apartment at the W while they film the reunion movie.  Needless to say, I will be returning to the W to see who I can see!



Settled in Atlanta

I've been in Atlanta for a little over a week now.  I am finally settled and feel like I am on summer vacation. I feel like I finally have a routine or just free time to do as I please.  Take today for example...woke up, went to Borders and to Whole Foods or as  http://fitnessista.com/ would say, Whole Paycheck.  Spent $93! Yikes!  I don't even know what I bought for $93! I did pick up these lovely gems.

I love fresh flowers!  They were only $9.99.  I love how all the colors compliment each other. Fresh flowers make me smile : )  This picture was taken using the FREE Instagram iphone app.  I love it.  Makes taking pictures more fun!


After Whole Foods, I went to Old Navy.  Old Navy is usually a hit or miss kind of store for me.  Today it was a HIT!   Most of the clothes were on the clearance rack (yay). I mostly bought clothes for the new school year. I also went to Marshalls, which was a miss.


Afterward all that running around, I was starved so I ate lunch and headed to the pool.  I am STILL reading Gone with the Wind.  I have about 700 pages left (OMG).  The book is excellent and I feel like I am finally finding time to sit down and read a significant amount of pages at once.


I also found time to do 35 minutes of cardio at the gym and cook a yummy dinner.  Last night, I made a balsamic roasted pork loin, which was delicious. ( I had a teeny tiny bit)  http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/balsamic-roasted-pork-loin/detail.aspx   For tonight's dinner, I reheated left over pork loin and made a spinach salad for Marc.  I had grilled veggies, a Sunshine burger, and some of the salad. 
The salad consisted of:  spinach
                                    sunflower seeds
                                    yellow and red tomatoes
                                    goat cheese crumbles
                                    red onion
                                    balsamic dressing

Very good!

Well that's a wrap.  I'm exhausted and off to bed shortly. 

Goodbye HFES

On Monday I said goodbye to HFES.  It was very emotional.  It doesn't seem real that I won't be going back there in August. 

Then

Now

To celebrate the end of the school year, I rented a boat on Lake Norman.  We had a blast.  I am so sad to leave them behind.  I couldn't have asked for a better group of people to work with. 

10 Reasons Why I Love Summer Vacation

Reasons listed in no particular order:

Reason #1:  I wake up when I want.  No alarm clock! Yesterday my body was still in work mode and I woke up 6.  I refused to get up and did fall back to sleep until 7.  Today I woke up at 10!  Much, much, better.

Reason #2:  I can eat breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks when I feel like it.  Breakfast at 7, lunch at 10:30, and dinner at 6 sucked. 

Reason #3:  I can pee any time I feel like it!  Only teachers understand how wonderful this really is....

Reason #4  I don't have to decide what I want to eat for lunch the day before. Take yesterday for example, I didn't want anything I had in my apartment so I actually went and picked something up, on a Monday!  It's the little things....

Reason #5:  I have as long as I want to eat (not 25 minutes which by the time I dropped my students off in the cafeteria, got my lunch, and walked back to the first grade hall, I usually had about 15.  This is why I now eat so quickly.)

Reason #6:  I get to run all my errands, clean, and do my laundry on the weekdays! 

Reason #7:  I can go to the gym whenever I want.  Yesterday, I went at 9:30. 

Reason #8:  I get to relax and enjoy every little minute of my day. 

Reason #9:  I don't have to carry my planner around in my purse anymore because I am FREE to do whatever, whenever!

Reason #10: I get to soak up the sun everyday for as long as would like.

Life. Is. Good.

Alanta job hunt

I have been extremely busy and haven't had much time to blog.  Last Friday,  I left for Atlanta to spend Memorial Day weekend there and to go on 3 interviews.  Marc and I were really productive but also found some time to relax. 

Some of the Atlanta skyline

We bought some stuff for the apartment and picked out paint colors for the whole place.  (so stressful as I have commitment issues) 

New from TARGET!

We also got in lots of sun and ate some delicious food at our favorite restaurants as well as food we cooked up. 

Team MC...yes that is what we call us

 The weekend was nice and long as I didn't have my first and second interview on Wednesday and my third on Thursday.  Interviews are so stressful especially when your career is riding on it.  I interviewed with 3 fantastic schools and heard unofficial word from two principals that once the hiring freeze lifts I will be contacted and to not do a thing until I talk to them. (That's a good sign in my book!!) I would be lucky to teach at any of the schools  so now I just need that freeze to go away.  OMG I almost forgot!  I ate a burger over the weekend as well.  It was absolutely delicious however I don't see myself digging into meat again anytime soon.  I really do enjoy being a vegetarian but it was good to move past my little craving. 

Oh so yummy

I flew back late Thursday night and had field day on Friday.  It wasn't as hot as I thought it would be, especially because we were outside in the morning.  After school, I went straight to the airport to pick up my mama.  We went to our favorite restaurant Dolce on Friday night.  On Saturday, we did some shopping and had margaritas and Mexican at 1900.  The weekend was very low key and that's exactly what we wanted.  The best thing about having a mom that is also your best friend is that we can sit and talk for hours, watch tv, read, or sit outside and watch the world go by and feel so calm and content.  On Sunday, I brought my mom to the airport and went straight to the pool to work on my tan.  It was a cool 93 degrees and needless to say I was in the pool alot more than usual.  That brings me to what I am currently reading.  I just finished The Adults (thoroughly enjoyed although slightly strange).  I finished it while in Atlanta so I picked up The Year We Left Home by Jean Thompson.  It was mentioned in a magazine I was reading recently and had a good review.  I read about 30 pages so far and it's just okay which is why I picked up Gone with the Wind at Barnes and Noble over the weekend.  My mom and I were talking about it (takes place in GA) and she said she loved the movie so I decided to read the book first before watching the movie.  The book is 1,448 pages. (Um, WOW) I am 38 pages in and I'm hooked.  I am also reading (more like glancing) through the book called The Eat-Clean Diet by Tosca Reno.  It is really reader friendly with lots of pictures and info on the clean food diet principals, recipes, and a 2 week meal plan.  I am planning on making the Very Berry Blaster protein shake for breakfast tomorrow.  I am hoping to find some new recipes to make for Marc and I that are healthy and yummy.  I will post pictures and recipes as I make them. 

Well that's my week recap.  I'm off to the gym.   

Shannon's shower!

Yesterday, we celebrated Shannon with a shower!  I had a great time but couldn't help but feel alittle sad.  I am truly going to miss these girls when I move (in 1 month and 5 days, OMG).  Here are some pics from the celebration!

Obviously something is wrong here. 

Okay rest of pictures will be on facebook.  

It's been awhile...

It's been awhile since I have blogged.  So here's the recap.... Last weekend I flew to Jersey to be with Marc for his god daughter's baptism.  Since we don't see them very often because we live so far away, it was so great to spend time with his family and friends. 

Marc with his beautiful god daughter Emily

Me and my boy

Let's see what else..... oh yes.... I told my principal I will not be back to HFES next year.  She was so happy for me.  It was a side of her I had never seen before.  I'm glad I told her.   I feel like I am enjoying work even more these days. 

I finished To Kill a Mockingbird this week.  It was excellent.  Mo tells me we were supposed to read it in highschool, but since I didn't care much back then, I didn't.  The author writes wonderfully.  I fell in love with the family and was so sad when I read the last page.  I didn't want the story to end.  

My next read will be The Adults.  I saw a book preview in People magazine awhile back and sounded good.  I actually just googled it and found out that it was written up in the NYTimes Sunday Book Review. 
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/27/books/review/Kucyznski-t.html
After reading the article I'm excited to read it.  (Mo if you are reading this, this is our type of book!)

Today was my last book club with the teachers since I am moving to Atlanta at the end of June.  However, the girls and I briefly discussed me Skyping in from Atlanta.  So fun!  I love Skype.  Our new book is called, Year of Wonders, A Novel of the Plague.  It has 4 stars on Amazon so it should be a good read.

That's about it....

Spring break recap

Life has been busy as usual since Spring Break ended.  Here's the recap....


Marc and I left on Monday morning for Key West.   Key West is absolutely beautiful.  It was sunny and hot everyday.  Perfect for laying in the sun and getting TAN...my favorite thing ever.  We stayed in a wonderful (and CLEAN) hotel in the perfect location.  Some pics from the trip.

Rooie.

We flew home on Thursday night for the holiday.  It was a short trip so while I was home I did nothing but relax and eat.  I haven't been home since Christmas so it was so great to see my family and my sweet little dog.  I saw one of my BFF's Mo.  We went to see Water for Elephants and it did not disappoint.  Water for Elephants is very close to being my favorite book.  It's tied with The Help and A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.  Reese played the part very well and Rob did too.  However, I don't pay much attention to his acting skills because he's super hot.   My family and I had our Easter dinner on Saturday because I had to fly back to Charlotte on Sunday afternoon.  I missed the family dinner at my aunt's house.  Sometimes it really sucks to live so far away.  My mom had an Easter basket with my fav treats on Sunday for me which I packed up and took back to munch on this week.  It was a great spring break.

Spring break!

Spring break started on Friday at exactly 2:00.  The teachers and I went to our usual happy hour spot to ring in 9 days without work!  Teaching really does have its perks.  Anyway, the boy and I are leaving for Key West tomorrow morning! Just finished packing and I didn't even over pack this time.  My suitcase is only 40 pounds! Usually when I travel for a week my suitcase it right at 50. 

I can't wait to lay in the sun and read.  It's so relaxing.  I swore that I would not think about everything else I should be doing.  Not even once.  While flying and getting tan, I am going to start reading Year of the Fog.  It was my choice for teacher book club. 

I've heard the book is a really intense read.

Until next time......

Unforgettable Moment

This past Sunday, I brought 3 of my students to see a Bobcats basketball game.  A friend and I picked up the kiddies (2 of mine and 1 of hers) and drove uptown to the arena.  The boys were so excited when we pulled into the parking lot.  They were all smiles and even held hands (awwww) while we walked.  We had to wait outside the arena for my third student who was coming with another friend of mine.After a few pictures, we made our way in.  We quickly made our way to our seats and got ourselves situated.  The boys immediately focused on the game and I tried to relax.  As fun as this special night out was, it was quite stressful for a person like myself.  My 2 goals of the night were for the boys to enjoy the game and arrive home safely.  Anyway, I decided to treat them to some popcorn and drinks. $25.00 later, the boys were eating, cheering, and smiling.  After half time, we left (it was a school night) and on the way out, my friend worked her magic at guest services and scored the boys Bobcats backpacks, shirts, and folders.  They immediately put on their new gear and we left.  I had such a great time with my boys.  There were several times when my eyes were filled with tears because of the joy I could see on their faces.   It was just so touching.  It was truly an unforgettable moment.

3 happy friends!