Just a Normal Birthday Recap That Will Probably Bore You, But Hey, Read It If You Want

As much as I rant and rave about how much I love my birthday, I can never for the life of me remember what I did the year before.  Dave will remind me every once in a while if I'm dazed and confused but for the most part I can just never remember.

So here, more for myself than for my readers, is a quick little synopsis of my 25th birthday. (Last week.)

We woke up pretty early for a Sunday, and I asked Dave if he wanted to give me my birthday gift since it was officially my birthday. Since he wanted to give it to me before because he thought he did a pretty good job, so obviously he agreed.
I sat in bed and after reading the sweet card I opened the gift: a hard drive.

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For some of you this may sound like a super lame birthday gift.
This was one of those times where I opened it up and went, Oh, this wasn't what I was expecting. Even though I wasn't expecting really anything specifically, this was a surprise.
 And then I went, Oh, this is kind of the perfect gift. I have been saying I need one of these for some time now haven't I?
This was one of those cases where my husband knew what I not only needed but wanted for my birthday better that I knew myself.
My personal laptop (MacBook) is about 5 years old. For those of you who are Mac afficianados, you may know that this is the time that things start to go wrong, crash, and get lost. This laptop has alllll of my photos from the past few years, (there are THOUSANDS) and professional and personal documents. The computer's memory is essentially full. Did I mention Dave's college computer is basically out of commision so all of his documents are on it too?
And I have no backup. No hard drive. No iCloud. Nothing.
Also, the laptop provided by my school is a Macbook as well. Also about 5 years old. After teaching two separate grade levels and developed 3 separate curriculums, (developing a 4th for the fall).

I think it's safe to say I need to get around PRONTO to backing this shit up.
So a hard drive? Kind of the perfect gift.

He made me breakfast.
We had to wait around the house before we got our day going and headed down south because Dave's uncle was bringing up their families old grill because they got a new one.

We had to kill three hours.
Naturally we went mini-golfing.
Here are some snapshots of us being adults.

I'm on a train. If you know what face I was trying to make here let me know. I have no idea.

I mean, just posing.

Literally all I said was, "Dave I want to take a photo of you with the hydrant. You know what to do." And then this happened. Our marriage is officially perfect.

Dave might have won in real life, but I won in my heart.

So we came back from golfing, got the new grill dropped off and visited with his family for a few minutes, and then we were off to our next adventure.

I've mentioned in just a few posts that I love the beach. More specifically I love THE OCEAN.

So we went to the ocean. To one of the beaches in my hometown to be more specific.

After the beach we went back to my parents to grill, and do frozen custard aka ice cream pie from my place of work and gifts.

My youngest sister gave me a beautiful vase she made in pottery class, one of those glass water bottles with a rubber cover that is apparently all the rage right now, and some trendy floral glasses.
My father and mother got me two things.
First, it's important to know that I am addicted to these.

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 During the school year I not only have a waterbottle but have one of these everyday to drink at school. Sometime some extra for the weekend. That's about a 6-10 dollar a week habit.
So what did my wonderful parents get me?

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A Soda Stream!
I don't really drink much soda unless I'm out or I'm mixing it with something else. But mama will be making some seltzer/sparkling water alright! (Once I figure out how to use it!)

Alright, so here comes the funny/other awesome gift.
My father bought himself a Kindle Touch in January on a trip to BJ's. I got him an amazon gift card for his birthday to get him started.. I tried to link it up for him but after about 10 minutes of figuring out accounts we both got bored and went to do something else.
Time passed. His kindle sat in his study. Real books were bought and actually read.

So what did this mean for me as I opened up my second gift?
Wrapped in a Milk Bone box I got my very own, new,(well basically new, whatever) Kindle Touch!

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I've already downloaded Two books and read one. So exciting!
Again, this is one of those gifts I didn't know I wanted.
As a language arts teacher and book geek I am a strong supporter of the book in print. The smell. The feel. Watching yourself progress through the book physically. Having it sit in your bookshelf afterward, ready to share with a friend that you think will like it.

BUT
I kind of like the mobility, and easiness to access of the Kindle.
Have I given up on the traditional book? No, I've got like 3 to read in my house right now.
But will I love my kindle and download stuff that I'm won't be super sad if I don't have them on my bookshelf? HECK YEAH!

So that was my birthday! Nothing groundbreaking or out of control, but hey I had a great time and that's all that counts.

Stay Fab!

Vewy Pinteresting

So this is my second of a few "back to the future"  posts as I would like to call them. Posts, I write now, which will be scheduled to be published while I'm off gallivanting in the ocean on vacation and forgetting that the internet exists. I'll come back from vacay, read the posts and be appalled at the spelling errors because it was so late when I originally wrote it, but also happy at the same time because my blog will *hopefully* still be going.

Now, like I said, I'll have forgotten about the internet existing.
But I can guarantee that there will probably be a few minutes where I get inspired to look something up or want to remember a specific dress that I saw and realize that I can't get on Pinterest. It will be sad and stressful, but something tells me that the beach and I will get through it together.

Let's just all come clean here for a second.
If you don't have Pinterest you think it is STUPID.
If you do have Pinterest you are addicted and think the people without it are stupid.
(And if you don't think that? Then you're doing it wrong.)

So to honor the fact that our brains are being taken over by the internet one social network and craft idea at a time, I decided to dedicate a post to pinterest.  Kind of like "How Pinteresting Wednesday" (a wonderful link up) but not on Wednesday or linked up.

Below I  have shared a few of my recent finds from pinterest.
Some are just photos, some are funny, some are inspirational, some like to online stores, some are resources, and some link to blogs with tutorials.

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Date night in a jar Ideas via

Up!  iPhone themed cover

Warm Spinach Artichoke Dip via

Seems to be pretty easy candle upcycle. Especially good for the candle hoarders out there...via

Alright, that's all I'm posting because I'm getting tired. But if you find me on pinterest from the button above, thhose are only a few out of the 92783429834729384 that I have pined. Find me and follow!


So, do you have Pinterest? Do you love it? What type of boards to you keep? Have you done anything that you've found on Pinterest like a dinner or craft? Do you have a favorite pin that you found recently and think you'd like to share with me?

Don't forget to find the button at the top right hand corner of the page and follow me on Pinterest if you like what you see. And while you're at it, you might as well follow me on Twitter too!

Summertime

When you see this post, (hopefully if Blogger posts this when I want it to) I will be in Mexico tanning and frolicking in the warm ocean.

As I sit here, typing in my warm bed in not so tropical Maine anticipating my vacation, I'm imagining myself to be doing something like this when this post makes its way up.

Not that I imagine myself dropping 50 pounds and owning a black bikini but you get my drift.

But let's be real, I'm sure that when this post goes up I'll be looking a little more like this:

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Not that I am going to be turning into a man either, but the whole sunburn thing will mostly be me. Oh and I need to draw in a drink into their hands. Much more accurate.

So either way, thinking about this vacation has put me even further into summer mode. I'm not just talking I want to go to Mexico again type stuff, but more the every day enjoyment of summer in Maine.

In honor of my new summer mindset, here are a few photos that  of last summer that I'll be staring at immediately when I get back from Mexico to remind me of what is to come. These ones in particular are just a few from my vacation with my family.

Don't worry, there are like 700 more where these came from just on this trip to continue teasing you with until summer.

Oh, and I'm sure right now in Mexico I'm obnoxiously in someone's face with a camera or taking an overdone and mediocre sunset photo. So plenty to go around here!

Le sigh, summer all year I say!

ADIOS

So while packing for my impending vacation, we discovered that I am about as good with space management as I am with my time management.


Like I said here, we leave Friday afternoon to catch a flight in the weeee hours of the morning on Saturday. This was our luggage Wednesday night at 9 PM

 Fast forward to 11 PM on Thursday night when we finish packing and then discover that we are 30 pounds over the weight limit.
Gulp.
So instead of sharing baggage we are each getting our own piece of checked luggage. Because I'm apparently a diva now that needs space for things?
Either way, we're about finished, I probably forgot something important like underwear or my right foot but I'll be in Mexico so I'm over it.

Don't worry, what I lack in the planning and organization department, I make up in sheer geekery and ability to read fluffy books and trashy magazines.

Tada!

Because my flight will not go on until I know whether Charles and William's horrible teeth will be passed forth into future generations of Fairy tale politicians.

I realize I have quite the eclectic book collection.
And some of you may be thinking, why does this girl have so many books? She's going on VACATION.
Well friends:
1. I'm a geek.
2. The bar doesn't open until 10 AM so I've got a couple of hours a day to let Chelsea Handler make me laugh so hard I pee my swimsuit a little with her one-night stands and general debauchery.

I told my students I was bringing 6 books. They looked at me like I had two heads.
And then they swiftly changed the conversation to ask me if I was going where all of those Mexican Drug Cartels were killing people.
I couldn't quite figure out if they were worried for my safety or wanted to start a conversation in class about beheadings.
Ohhhhhhhh my little adolescents. 

By the way, if you ever want to experience true stress, pure exhaustion , or the phenomenon of time slowing down,then head on over to your local middle school a couple of days before April Break.
 I think my latest speech to my students was about how I was probably as, if not more excited for my vacation as they were but I wasn't walking around ruining every body elses day so they shouldn't either. ( I think that's when we started to talk about gangs in Tiajuana?)

I digress.

So the bags are packed, I'm ready for school tomorrow, and hubby is in bed.
I decided after my last post that I'd set myself up with a couple of short posts that I'd prepare before so you all don't forget me. And because I think it's a pretty cool idea and want to see if it ACTUALLY works.

Until then, I guess this is Adios. If you're out and about traveling or in Mexico I'll be the girl speaking spanglish, sunburnt, and with Margarita salt on my lips.
It's not pretty but someone's gotta do it.

Stay fabulous.

Upcoming Vacation Adventures and Guest Blogging?

First off, I want to thank everyone for the wonderful feedback that I've been getting on my last post about suggestions for blog changes/titles. I've had some really nice feedback over both comments and email. I'm not quite settled but I might be ready to limit it down to a few different options and then look for some more feedback before making anymore changes. I also have other ideas for what I want my blog to LOOK like. Be looking for some more posts in the near future on that.

ALSO, the adorable Autumn over at "Mrs." in the Making gave me an award. I'm going to wait to address that in another post because I need to get to this next thing before the next couple of days rush up and past me. In the mean time, check out Autumns wonderful blog and all of the other award winners. There are some fun ones in there!

Now, there have been a lot of things going on for me recently. This caused me to take a brief hiatus from blogging which I have been slowly doing more of. Now there have been lots of things that I've wanted to tell you, but I've gotten to about 3. Which is fine, because this is my blog and not yours.

One of the most exciting pieces of information that I've been meaning to share with everyone is this little trip I'm going on for April break. This trip?

OH I'M JUST GOING ON VACATION TO

MEXICO!!!!!!

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Cue whatever sterotypical mexican party song that probably just popped into your head. 

You know, like the song that plays in the background of that commercial where the little kid invents the flat bottomed taco and they lift them up in the air and trumpets come in. Anyone? No? Just me, Okay.

 

I know, I'm unbelievable lucky. I know, I can't believe I've been keeping this secret from you either. 

And when I say I'm going to Mexico on April break, I mean I'm leaving on a plane 3 days from now because that's when I am on April break. 

Are you hyperventilating yet out of excitement/nervousness/pure evil jealousy yet? Don't worry, we'll be okay. Because, you know, I'm going on vacation. 

Now if you're a stalker or my dad you are either excited or super mad at me because I just stated that I'm going on vacation on the internet, which can lead to bad things like break-ins. Don't worry Dad, there's someone watching my house. I like all of my cheap stuff that I pretend is expensive and don't want it stolen. And plus, Linus is spoiled and I couldn't possibly leave this one all by himself now could I?

Shhh he doesn't know the dog isn't staying home with him yet.

Sorry vandals, my cat has a live in baby sitter(that is a human, not my dog) so you can't steal him or the most expensive thing in my house. Which by the way I think is my crock-pot. 

Anyway, back to the important stuff. Yeah, I'm going on vacation to Mexico in three days and I'm just about dying from excitement. 

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How does a girl whose most expensive household item is a slow-cooker? Because the hubby's wonderful parents are taking us. 

That's right. I'm vacationing with the In-Laws. His parents and his brothers. For some of you vacationing with your husband's family might sound horrible. But it does not for me because they are pretty awesome people.

We're heading to a resort that is all inclusive. We've got only a couple of things planned like a day trip that Dave and I are planning, but other than that there is nothing planned. WHICH IS PERFECT. 

Lounging on the beach, at the pool, on the balcony. Doing nothing is exactly the prescription this crazy person needs.

It will also be nice to have a different change in scenery for photography. Despite the fact that I haven't shared much of it, I've been taking photos but the scenery seems to be the same. It will be pretty awesome to be somewhere else other than the normal places in Maine. 

Now I've been preparing for this trip for a while. I've been slowly getting new swimsuits and accumulating new outfits. I've grown up on the ocean my entire life, but I'm the type of girl that wears an old bathing suit that doesn't match and a t-shirt and athletic shorts above it. I'm not there to give a fashion show I want to get a nice tan and cool off. 

But I realized quickly as I got going into planning that now I'm a big girl going on a big girl vacation. So I've purchased some tankinis that match and a few coverups. I also have some pretty cute dinner outfits if I may say so myself! If I'm feeling good about what I'm wearing and I'm not looking like a lobster I might snap a few pictures for a little fashion blog post.

I've also been stocking up on books for the beach and the plane. As of right now I have 5. That's right, read it and weep fellow geeks, I've purchased 5 books for my upcoming vacation. I tried to do a mix of fiction and non-fiction. Again, if I'm loving any of them a bunch then I'll hop on here and do a review. 

So since this is the first time I've been on a vacation like this since my senior year in highschool as well as on a plane, and the first time I've been to Mexico I clearly am getting all nervous about what I might be forgetting or important travel tips that all of you vacation savvy people have up your sleeves. 

Here are a few questions for you my readers:

1. Have you been to an all inclusive resort lately? Is there anything you wish you'd known? Anything you wish you'd taken advantage of while you were gone?

2. The last time you went on a plane was there something that you were like  "Man, I totally wish I'd brought this" or "Man thank god I brought this!"

3. What are some absolute must-haves for your carry-ons?

4. Do you think it would be worthwhile to have some scheduled blog post while I'm gone?

5. Any words of advice or wisdom before I set off for a week of vacation with 5 other people, or jetsetting in general?

6. Do you think it's too late for me to arrange a guest blogger for sometime next week? How does that even work? I've played with the idea of asking someone to do a guest post for me while I'm gone on vacation or whatever but I clearly never got around to posting or researching the issue. Now that I'm 3-4 days out I am thinking ahead to my blog and going hey, that's a long time for it to be left high and dry without any intention. 

For me, I would only be comfortable with a guest post from someone who reads my blog on a  regular basis and comments, and whose blog I'm familiar with. It would be cool to have a guest post on a funny/scary/memorable vacation moment. Even if it's not for this vacation, how does it even work and is there anyone out there that would want to jump in and do one? (This last question is probably best answered by email unless it's a general comment on guest posting.)

Thanks ahead of time for the advice on the questions above. The closer to vacation I get, the more excited I get, but I also get nervous as well. I'm so worried I'm missing some big piece of information or I'm going to do some facepalm on missing some pretty obvious thing in my purse at the airport. Your input is appreciated, as always. 

And don't forget to weigh in on your opinion on my hopeful upcoming blog changes. 

Stay fabulous!