I'm Thankful It's Okay

Today, not only am I going to make myself feel better by repeatedly telling myself it's okay, but I'm also going to practice some thanks.
So I linked-up (is that the past tense of link? Or is it lunk? I'll just bounce back and forth between the two because that's just how grammar gangstah I am) at A Complete Waste of Makeup with Neely, and Brunch with Amber with Amber to verify to myself that I'm actually okay. And of course I also need to lunk-up with Tracy to be thankful because that's just healthy and good for me and stuff.
Man do I love days where I have lunk/linked-up.






(I couldn't find the linky box for being thankful so I just stole the box that goes directly to her website. WHOOPS!)

I'm thankful.....

 I'm thankful for the fact that I get to GO TO THE LAKE TODAY. For those of you who aren't super duper awesome New Englanders (we can still be friends) it has been between 90-100 degrees here and humid. I have stupid windows that don't accommodate for air conditioners* so it's setting up 3 fans in one room to blow hot air around for me.
So am I thankful to visit a friend's lakehouse? UM YEP!
*Oh and let's all just be honest, it's not like I could afford that electric bill anyway honey, you hear?


I'm thankful for living in Maine. Because this only happens like 10 days out of the year. I know my friends in the south and west have to suffer through much worse. Oh and I have the ocean and a plethora of lakes here too.


I'm thankful for all of the proffesional opportunities that I've had and have in the future. When I think about it (and I've been doing a lot of thinking about it), my teaching career has been pretty cool and I've had the opportunity to experience a lot of different stuff that other teachers my age haven't been able to. I've taught both Language Arts and Humanities(which people get super excited when they hear because teaching humanities is SUPER COOL), I've taught different grade levels all at the same time and just one at a time, I've been a part of tons of commitees, gone to a conference in DENVER COLORADO, and experienced project/service-based learning on a large scale. I've also taught students from a huge range of socioeconomic, cultural, and academic-ability groups. This all might sound lame/stupid for some of you, but I never imagined I'd have the opportunity to do all of this in my first three years of teaching.

I'm thankful for having a summer job, in air conditioning, with super cool kids, and with the best frozen custard ever. Now the calories on the other hand....

Now, with all of that said, It's okay....

It's okay that my "The Temper Trap" radio station on Pandora has been on repeat for the past two days. With other bands like Vampire Weeekend, The XX, Foster The People, The Naked and The Famous, etc. It's like an indie pool party and you're invited.

It's okay that I haven't showered in like 24 hours. Whatevs. The lake is nature's shower.

It's okay that when I packed my room up for the summer I just kind of shoved things in boxes to deal with in late July.

It's okay that I'm trying to eat healthier and take care of myself better AGAIN.  (Cross your fingers it'll stick this time...) I deeeeefinitely need to get my act together before the next school year starts again, because it all tends to fall apart around January. Can we say stress?

It's okay that when I go to my summer job I totally revert back into an immature high school kid. At 24 I can only handle being a responsible adult for 9 months of the year.

It's okay that I am addicted to painting my nails in bright colors or with tons of glitter.

It's okay that yesterday I thanked a reader that stopped following my blog in a post. That's just how I roll.

It's okay if you thought you'd accidently thought you stepped into a Lady Gaga/Nicki Minaj concert when you came to my page because of its new look. I mean, I feel like there are worse things for my blog to emulate right?

It's finally okay that the song Titanium by Sia and David Guetta is that one song that I listen to on full volume repeatedly at the gym, and get weird looks because I mouth along to it from the person on the elliptical next to me. And you know what it's also okay that I get a little hipster about the fact that I've been listening to Sia for like 7 years and own all of her cds. She is awesome, I've known about her for a super long time, and yeah I'm just a little cooler for it. Here's the video, mostly so I have an excuse to listen to it again, but also to share it with you because the video is almost as cool as the song.
 Almost.

I'm Thankful It's Okay Thursday

What can I say, I'm a floozie for blog link-ups.

Let's get thankful with Rebecca first.

1. I'm thankful it is yet again sunny today. And thunderstorms this afternoon? Pshh, sounds like another round of Apples to Apples to me.

2. I'm thankful that both the hubs and I will be on regular schedules next week! While I enjoy summer, it'll be nice to hang out with each other without one of us sleeping or being exhausted and grumpy. 

3. I'm thankful that as I start to get stressed out about school, knowing that I am heading into quite a an awesome team situation as far as both teachers and students.

Now, for things that are OK with Neely and Amber.





It's Ok....

... that I have officially gone camera happy here at camp. Get ready for an obnoxious amount of photos of family members, water, and my dog.

... that I'm a little excited for school to start. But just a little.

.... that I may or may not have snuck out of the cabin on one of the rainy days of my vacation with one of my sisters, Dave, and Bruin and went to school to move some furniture around. There were bookshelves everywhere. If you don't believe me, just look at these pictures. So in order to not go crazy we all put the bookshelves in their spots. Which was OOOOOOKKK.

... that my dad currently is singing along with Hoda Kotb on TV to Beyonce. I mean, really, how would that not be?

 .... my maja asked for a shout-out on this here blog for being fabulous. You are welcome Nan-Nan

... that I'm a little sad that I was so efficient in my back to school shopping. Between the Maine gem that is called Reny's and some online shopping, I am pretty much done. Which makes me sad, because I love going shopping.
(I'm not completely done though, I'm still looking for tanks/camis that will cover my...ahem...ladies up. If you have any recommendations for high ones so I won't be falling out of all my V-neck shirts, then help a sister out pahlease!)

... that I may or may not have cuddled with my dog all night. Hey, a girl gets lonely alright?

... that it's 10:30 and I'm still sipping my coffee

... that I keep on adding things to this list in an attempt to avoid doing dishes....


And with that, I shall go. What are you thankful for, or are adamant about being ok with?

It's Ok to be Thankful

So I don't know if there are rules against it, but I tend to link-up to more than one blog hop a day.

I take my multi-tasking very seriously.

Hence why I'm watching an episode of SVU as I write right now. (Mult-tasking/laziness. Tomatoe/Tamahtoe.)

Whether the blogging police are going to come get me or not, I am still going to join two link-ups today. One, that I've done, and another that I haven't.

The hop that I'm returning to once again is Thankful Thursday with Rebecca.

*First I am thankful that my week-long vacation on the lake with the whole famn damily is next week. I preparing myself for hilarity and obnoxious amount of picture taking to ensue. As you should as well.

*Second, I am thankful that I've had a couple of professional days this week for school. It was not only good to meet with my new team members so I could get some direction as far as what to be teaching in my brand spankin' new subject, but it's also nice to slowly ease into the "teacher" mindset.

You see when summer happened this year, between finishing my portfolio, coaching, and the general day to day craziness that ensues in a classroom, my brain turned off. It finally just relaxed. So having a day of planning workshops, a day of team collaboration, and time in my classroom painting was a nice way to re-start my brain into professional mode.

But don't worry, I still have a few days left at the custard stand to deal with unruly customers who insist that you are wrong about everything.

*Third, I am thankful that the aforementioned painting of the classroom is done! I will share pictures and motivation later, but let's just say it involves these two colors...

*And finally, I am thankful for my husband, because this painting would not have gotten done without him. Yeah, I painted too. Buuuuut he went into my classroom while I was in my meetings to get a head start. And let's just say, that edges, doorframes, tightspots and fixing mess-ups aren't really my forte. He did all of the above.

He then came home, did the dishes, vaccumed, and cleaned the livingroom.

To quote David from David at the Dentist, "Is this real life?".

---------------------------------------

The second link-up I am joining today is It's Okay Thursday with Neely. 

It's okay that my room isn't unpacked. I have fabulous paint on the walls!

It's okay that I didn't go to the gym today. I'll go for a short little run before work.


It's okay I haven't finished anything on my to-do list for the end of the summer. I have two weeks, three weeks if you count summer not ending until the kids come back.


It's okay to eat my breakfast in bed just so I can spend time with my husband.

It's okay to look at puppies at rescues that I know I don't have time for. For now....

It's okay that I keep on trying to share this post about the hardships of being a blogger and a teacher on my all blogging communities and asking people for their opinions on it even though I now have other ones up. *Cough*Do it*Cough*Cough*

It's okay that I haven't been blogging on a daily basis. I've been busy doing other things, that must make me cooler than other people that you know.

It's okay that I'm hoping it's rainy at work so I can read my book.

And it's okay that I started a twitter today and have no idea how to use it. I just used both a hashtag and an @ sign. I don't understand what I just wrote.

With that said, now you can follow me on twitter! Go ahead, and let the reading of nonsense begin!

All of the cool kids are doing it. Errrr, will be doing it, once they find out I exist. :)

Thankful Thursday

Am I the only person who thinks it's crazy that it's Thursday?

Not that I've been productive or anything. But I mean, it's gone fast eh?

This week has been sort of, uh, drab. I think I'm suffering from the First Week of August Blues. I literally somehow did NOTHING for like 3 hours yesterday.

I had my computer open but made no progress in vacation searching other than the fact that Fuji is just as pretty as Hawaii (Dave and I are thinking about taking a real honeymoon? We'll see), no blog posts, no planning for school, and no organization, and no vacuuming.

The most worthwhile thing I got done was look at puppies that I can't adopt yet and watch 4 episodes of Ice Loves Coco.

I think this is what some may call a funk. I even missed some of my favorite blog-hops yesterday. Whomp Whomp.

But I shall get out of this Funk. And what better way to do it with a link-up that makes me think about all of the wonderful things I should be thankful for.

Link up with Rebecca over at Southern Charm to count your blessings!

So, some things I am Thankful for today:

1. I'm thankful that both of my boys are around to cuddle today!

Well I mean, Bruin's usually pretty easy to pencil in.

But as far as my other man goes, he's a little tougher to find time to spend with. You see,  he's working at a State Park, which is wonderful. But as he tries to climb up the totem pole of conservation and recreation jobs with the government, his hours are less than desirable.

Either way, I have some time before I have to give dairy deliciousness to unnecessarily angry people today to hang out with these sleeping beauties. Loving it!

2. I'm thankful for To-Do Lists.

As aforementioned, I am in a Funk. But I have created a to-do list for the summer. Er, well, a to-do list of things to do before the end of the summer. Like get my act together.

Don't you worry fellow list makers, I put things on there that I absolutely have to do before the end of the summer knowing that I will do them and can at least feel good about crossing them off in case I don't get the other things done.

I'm kind of an expert at both list making and setting myself up for success.

3. I'm thankful for getting a glimpse of my new classroom. 

So this may sound horrible to any of you who are trying to hang onto any glimpse of summer before signing your life back over to whatever job you may hold and have been fortunate enough to get time off from.

Buuuut it is kind of a motivator.  I talked about how the beginning of August signifies the beginning of the end for me as far as vacation goes.

Unfortunately, this is easier said than realized. By August 3rd I was still no where closer to being in school mode. So the hubby and I made a trip to the classroom.

I didn't take a picture, but I have some of how I left my old classroom.

Imagine 30 desks pushed off to the side, 7 (literally 7) bookshelves in the middle of the room, original puke green carpeting from the 70's and all of these boxes to unpack.

YIKES.

Seeing this in person kind of woke this educator up.

Some work is to be done! Especially before I have a couple of professional days next week!

I'm also playing with the idea of possibly putting up some paint on the walls. Any classroom wall paint suggestions? If I get around to it I was thinking maybe a light blue?

4. I'm thankful for family vacation!

With all of this school starting back up stuff, it's nice to know I still have at least one more summer event to look forward to. My family will be spending a whole week on the lake, the week before I head back to school, and I am sooooo happy to still have a glimpse of summer left.

I can bring all my work with me, and I'm actually pretty pumped that it's right after I meet up with my new team members. That way I can kind of get my head on straight as far as what I'll need to get done. And what a better setting to get things done than a cabin on the water.

But do not fret, I will still have LOTS of fun. And take way too many pictures. And blog about it.


5. I'm thankful to have a running partner for this Saturday. 

So this Saturday is the long dreaded 10K that I am in no way prepared for.

I ran 2.5 miles yesterday and I almost died. A 10K is 6. 6 Miles. BLECHY.

Good thing I have the best husband ever.

You see, this stud ran cross country in high school and has run this race I think 3 times?

Either way, despite the fact that he hasn't been training as much as he'd hoped to because of his tiresome work schedule, he would be fine enough to just get up and run the whole thing no problem.

So you could imagine my surprise when he told me he would stay with me all the way. Whether I'm running, walking, or having to make a pit stop in the woods at a porter potty because I have to nervous pee.

I'm pretty self-concious about the fact that I can't run the whole thing while the rest of my sisters will be schooling me, so the fact that he's going to stick with me means a lot to me and is something I think  is worthwhile giving thanks for. 

Happy Thursday!

I'm Thankful I'm Playing THURSDAY

Again, I am double dipping.

via

And again, I am going to encourage you to never google search the term double dipping without the safe search on to at least moderate. Trust me.


I'm joining two link ups again this Thursday because I am greedy and want all of the salsa content I can get.

I'm again with the apparantly similar yet prettier Sarah Elizabeth.

And of course with the other southern gem, (is it just me or are all of my bloggy friends from the south?) the every charming Rebecca.

I'm going to go ahead switch things up and share what I've been listening to first.

Just gonna go ahead and throw this out there and bring up the obvious: I don't listen to country often.

Sometimes, but not often.

Most other people in the "What I'm Playing" link-up do, so I feel a little bit like an outlier. But a little bit of variety is good right? Hope y'all can appreciate my shares whether they're your style or notsomuch.

My first song that I've been listening to over and over again is permanently stuck in my head, and probably yours too. But I don't mind.

This girl might be crazy but she can throw a beat down. AM I RIGHT?

Okay so this one is the token adorable summer jam that makes you...well makes your heart beat faster.
Coincidentally, the lovely hostess of this link-up agrees that it is a worthwhile listen.

When driving in my car the other day this came on the radio. You know those songs that mean so much to you at one point in your life?
Well this whole album was a total game changer for me. It came out my senior year of highschool and made me put a positive spin on going off to college and "finding" my new self. A quote from this song may or may not have been in my senior yearbook.
(Before you judge go ahead and look at your senior yearbook.Yeah.... that's what I thought. )
Either way, ever since I heard it on the radio I have been playing it in my itunes and smiling.

Alright link up number two! Time to name some things I am thankful for!

1. I have a job in the summer.

My students have asked my why on earth I would work during the summer. Because, "The whole point of being a teacher is getting summers of right?'

I usually send them off with a,  

"No the whole point of being a teacher is torturing all of you." 

And then I growl.

I love teaching middle school.

ANYWAY.

Being young and on a limited income is difficult, especially where Dave and I are literally both at the bottom of the totem in our public service workforce.

So I am thankful that I am able to find a job with a great group of teens to 20 somethings where I can make some extra money. Some weeks it keeps us afloat with bills. Some weeks it pays for my windshield.

And other weeks it pays for a new bathing suit that is on sale.

via

Because when all of your suits are 3 years old and worn out from chlorine and sun, it's just not good for anyone.

So I am thankful for working this summer, but not working an insane amount like past summers.

Did I mention that it's a custard place and therefore air conditioned?

And that I get to make frozen bananas?

2. Professional days for school are starting up already.

This may sound like the most miserable phrase for my fellow educators out there.

Lemme explain myself. (And those of you not in the educational field feel free to skip  this portion of my post. I'm going to use words like instruction and units. Those are boring even to me. I won't take offense. Move right on down to #3)

I am a part of a group of teachers that are going to help the integration of a completely new vision and way of instruction for our school.

So as I sat there yesterday in the air conditioned room in a shirt other than my bathingsuit or workshirt, I was asked if I was nervous to be teaching my new hybrid class, "Humanities".

You can read the long story here, but the short story of it all is that I teach language arts, but because of position cuts, I am now teaching a sort of hybrid between Language Arts and Social Studies.

This new change has been at the back of my mind all summer, but now that I was in my proffesional clothing and in a professional setting it dawned on me: YEAH I'M SUPER NERVOUS. And no, I haven't really developed any units yet.

Ideas? Yes. Solid units NO.

I don't have another professional day until August 10th and then I'm not totally back to work until the 23rd.

But knowing that school is somewhere on that sea-breezed and sun-kissed horizon is slight motivation to start putting my thinking cap on and getting my gears cranking in that direction. Even if it is just a slow and easy pace.

3. My husband. 

NOW STOP RIGHT THERE.

Don't click on that little red x in the corner quite yet.

 I am not going to gush and goo over him like you are expecting and like I very well could. 

This is a different kind of thankful. 

I don't know how many of you are married or planning on doing so sometime soon. But in case you didn't get the memo, being a newly wed is not always rainbows, unicorns and easy conversations. 

Don't get me wrong, things are going great with us. No need to call the marraige counselor. Save y

He actually just walked in and gave me a smile and a kiss. (You're allowed to throw up in your mouth just a little.)

But, there is something a little different about marriage than just dating or being engaged. It's very hard to explain. I think that now that there's the pressure of having the label of being married, you just want to do everything in your possible power that is right for your relationship. Because let's face it, there's no out clause in that contract. 

So why am I thankful?

Because while marriage, even in the first year isn't always easy, this guy always seems to do the right thing even when the going gets rough.

I am thankful, that out of all of the guys out there, I got to marry him.

4. The thunderstorm supposedly coming in this afternoon. 

via

Um it's 90 degrees. Of course I am looking forward to the clouds coming in and giving mother nature a hard core cold shower if you know what I mean. 

And that's it! For those of you who made it to the end of this ridiculously long post, you deserve a medal. 

Unfortunately I do not have one of those for you. I guess the general satisfaction of knowing way too much information about my music and what I'm grateful for shall have to be enough today.  

Happy Thursday!

I'm Thankful I'm Playing Thursday

Just don't even pay attention to the title of this post. I tried to combine. It sounds fun.

It'll do.

I've been looking for new link-ups in hopes of meeting some new people, but have a link-up that I have done before and would like to do again, so I shall double-dip and do two.

Promise I'll flip the chip around and dip in with the side I didn't bite.

via

 *P.S. Googling "Double Dipping" without the safesearch on, may or may not be hazordous to your eyes and your stomach. You've been warned. *

The first one is with Good Ol' Rebecca over at Southern Charm.

And the new link-up for me this week is "What I'm Playing Thursday" with Sarah Elizabeth.

Who is Just Like Me, But Only Prettier. Who would've known!

So first, I shall be Thankful.

1. My Husband. 

Not only is he dashing, nice, and a great cook, he always finds my keys when I've put them somewhere stupid like the freezer.

2. Summer Vacation.

As I've spent the last month completely ignoring the fact that I have a real job, I've realized I'm a little less crazy during the summer months. I've decided to use my birthday as halfway mark to start thinking about school again and planning for  teaching a completely new topic. But as I start getting ready to get back into professional mode I've realized that I feel recharged enough to start thinking about school again.

Don't get me wrong, summer is in no way over yet. But, I am okay with thinking about teaching and not feeling overwhlemed and stressed out.  I guess it's just nice to think about curriculum and not be a total crazy person, you know?

Let it be said: Summer Vacation is not for the kids. It's for the adults who chase them around all year asking them to stop jumping up to touch the ceiling and teaching them manners. The students enjoying

3. The Weather!

I wrote a little letter to the dear state of Maine about the weather that she's been subjecting us to.

Since then it has cooled off a little and stayed gorgeous.

I'm not going to say it was because of me.

But it was.

Hokay, now for what I'm Playing.

Some songs that I've been loving long time this week.

Some more relaxed tunes:

1. You are a Tourist- Death Cab For Cutie

2. Arms- Christina Perri

And my workout jams.

3. Don't Wanna Go Home- Jason Derulo

4. Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)

Don't worry, I promise not to do another link-up tomorrow. I'll try to get some of my pictures from my new camera in my next post, and most likely swoon on about the last Harry Potter movie that I'm seeing tonight.

Mayhaps I shall reveal which bag I decided to purchase??

We shall see!

Thankful Thursday

So I know it's BARELY Thursday right now, and by the time this post is up it will be Friday. But I need to touch base with my blogspacege (break that word down) and relive what I am thankful for right now.

By the time you all read this it won't be Thursday, but next Thursday you should totally link up with Rebecca. Or link up tomorrow. I don't think there are any laws against linking up the day after right?

So a quick list of things that I am Thankful for before I fall asleep.

Because I am sweaty, want to be next to a fan, and am having eye twitches due to exhaustion/being a crazy person this post will not be a deep and profound. These things that I am thankful for will be superficial and slightly trivial.

1. I am thankful that tomorrow is the last day of classes for my students. Trying to convince the little gems that they need to be in the mood to extract the meaning of tolerance and what we need to learn from the holocaust is not, (SURPRISE), what they would like to be doing mid-June. I love them but Dear God we're all getting ready for summer. Especially when it's not just the students who have checked out, but other teachers.

2. I am thankful for the fact that while I was at school finishing up some work this evening a huge thunderstorm came in and not only a) Did Dave and I make it home safe despite all of the traffic lights downtown being out; but more importantly b) the place that he called in for sandwiches to be picked up at had finished our order literally a minute before their power went out.

PRIORITIES.

Which in my humble opinion is something to be thankful for because if either one of us had to cook it wouldn't have been pretty.

3. White Wine. And a big wine glass to hold said wine.

4. Ummm I won ANOTHER BLOG AWARD?

Which, we'll talk about my confusion when it comes to the names of awards and what they actually mean later. But...WOW.

So I have Miss Mary to thank for this one. For some of you, this might be something silly to be thankful for. Of course I'm thankful for my family, friends, health, home,  etc. But at this point as I am super stressed out about how my job continually takes over my livelihood, it's nice to get recognition for what I do here.

Again, I am just shocked that people are reading this and think it's worthwhile to send a pretty little picture my way. 

I DOUBLE PINKY PROMISE that I will  recognize others for the awards, catch up on everyone else's blogs, and do some actual blog posts tomorrow that aren't all about me being stressed about work or Dave making/bringing me coffee.

As soon as I get some sleep.