leaping in the rain

Happy Leap Day one and all and what a down right crummy little rainy day it had to be.  Although the weather seemed to not want to cooperate with the special occasion that only comes around every four years, I did not allow that to stop me.  I spent this day leaping through puddles (not really) and leaping between rain drops (really) in and out of some places, doing some wednesday-esque errands.  I lept in to my absolute favorite cafe for a bite to eat with two of my favorite women: momma dearest and auntie J.  There is nothing more theraputic then a gab-sesh over an unbelieveably delicious lunch (which was fully intended to be caught via picture, but lets face it - I was hungry!) and chai tea.  The entire atmosphere motivated me to complete the very last task on my list of things to do: create a gift tag for a baby shower gift (just a little added touch to personalize the present for mommy-to-be, and honestly - who doesn't love little baby animals?)

Collect all necessary materials.  I chose pastels in pink, green, and blue to match the gift bag, some sweet baby animals c/o Michael's (and my personal stash of scrapbooking materials) and baby pink ribbon (for a baby girl of course!)

After much deliberation as to how you might attempt this, choose some crafty scrapbooking scissors in the same pattern (varying sizes) to cut the paper.  I choose to always cut the same color with the same scissors.

After cutting the white cardstock for the base of the card, cut the chosen color for the background (color 1) and adhere this to the cardstock.  I chose to use glue squares, they stick the best and are easy to apply.  Next add the second color of choice in the place in opposing corners.  Cute baby elephant will find his way to the bottom corner.
*Not seen here:  I chose 3 silver stars to place in the top left corner of the card and punched the hole in the top right with your standard hole punch.

For privacy - I have blurred the names, but that is part 1 of your final step!  Make sure to (neatly) write out who the gift is to (and from!) in the center of the card and slide the baby pink ribbon through the punched hole, attached firmly with a double knot and bow!

a case of the monday's

There is really no reason to be curled up under a blanket with a hot cup of tea, but that is where I'll find myself for a good remainder of the afternoon.  The weather isn't brutal, it honestly seems to be quite the nice day outside, but a good portion of me is craving to just be curled up amidst a brutally frigid winter day and I have allowed myself to pretend that this Monday is just that.  I have created my list of things to do and am about 3/4 of the way to checking them all off.  Once this is completed I will be plopped in my favorite room of the house, curled up, allowing Monday to win, this time. I do believe that allowing myself to do this will result in a flood of phone calls to work for all of those poor-souls who come down with some sort of illness allowing me to be a working woman for a day, or two, or three, later this week.  I may break out and pick up the purse I had the lovely salesman at TJMaxx place behind the counter for me, so I guess maybe Monday hasn't quite gotten the best of me yet.

it's a bird, it's a plane

It's a CAT! Well, in all honesty it is an extremely talented young woman playing a cat in an aerial ballet performance during a performance of CATS (the musical), but...we wouldn't have to get that technical. 

Just a quick hello to all who stopped by on this dreary Friday night.  Now be prepared and pull out your very best pare of totally excited, gloating, proud-momma-bragging-rights galore pants.  That picture up there is a beautiful way to capture my very best friend in all of her dancing glory.  This one goes out to you dearest, for I love you and am so proud of you, always.

A&A

Awkward:

1. When you are on the phone with a friend who happens to lose service and you talk and talk and go on for about ten minutes until your phone begins to ring and you realize that, "ohhhhh, yeahhhhh, I wasn't just talking on the phone to no one for the last ten minutes or anything..."

2. When you're sitting awkwardly alone watching boyfriend play hockey and this awkward janitor man comes up to you and starts asking you all these questions about what Joe-Shmo said to you last week when an awkwardly disgusted woman is yelling at you for some reason that is unknown to you because..well..you aren't who he thinks you are.  And then you have to tell him that he has you mistaken with someone else and you are sorry but you don't know what Joe-Shmo said to said girl that he thought you were.  Awkward Janitor man apologizes awkwardly and then continues to talk for about five more minutes about how he awkwardly had mistaken you for someone else. Awkward. 

3. How if you hear a word too many times it begins to not sound right and you begin to question if you are even spelling it correctly anymore.  Hint, this is how I feel about the previous "awkward" statement.

4. Hearing the conversation of 2 teenage girls in the dressing room about how "my butt looks sooooo fat in this dress" and her friend responding by saying "I don't think that it exactly..umm..flatters you...in...umm..the right way...." and the debate continues for about five more minutes until the conversation goes on in to other awkward topics that I'd rather not discuss...and should not be discussed in a public dressing room..

Awesome:

1.  Fat Tuesday.  Besides all of the religious connections (Ash Wednesday the next day and the significance of the beginning of Lent) I really have always enjoyed the part of Fat Tuesday that connects directly to that little picture right up there ^.  Fasnachts.  Not only are they awesome for the pure sake of their neat-o name but their hot, warm, salivating deliciousness is the definition of awesome.  And come on, they are awesome for days to follow.

2.  My sister.  Yes she is awesome for so many reasons besides just being my sister, and one of those reasons being this little blog right over here! Big seester decided to start her very own blog and I think it would be awesome for you to head on over and check her out!

2 1/2. My sweet baby niece getting not only her first, but her SECOND! tooth.  And all of her cute little giggles.  And all of the sweet little pictures that my sister sends me, and well the fact that she is such a tiny little bundle of joy that her cuteness (and awesomeness) could only be appropriately posted if she was numbered as a "1/2" because her little baby goodness is just seemes to be represented best as "1/2".  (Awkwardly probably only making sense to me making this a toss up between awkward and awesome)

3.  Gingerbread latte creamer. Mmm Mmm good.

4.  How many times I used "awkward" in one awkward post.  And really, it did no justice what-so-ever to how awkward the situation really was.

These boots are made for walking...

boots forever 21; jeans LC for Kohl's; cable knit cardigan forever 21

I am in no way, a fashionista, all knowledgable of the ways of what is in and what is not, what is trendy, hip, or cool, but I do know what I love and I figured, from time to time, I may share some of these outfits or key pieces with you. 

I purchased these boots a few years ago from forever 21 because the price was great and they were a comfortable find.  Until recently I had difficulty being satisfied with what I paired them with and often tossed them back in to the dark abyss of my closet.  Although, with this odd unwinter-like weather, they have become a staple in to my wardrobe that I cannot resist slipping on to my feet!

Ahhhh, this is the life....

To all of you out there who have chosen to visit my blog (or maybe you just happened to pop on by through various web searching or blog reading), you will soon know that I am currently employed as a substitute teacher.  I finished my degree in a short three and half years, deciding that getting a jump start on the job market (or lack there of) would be the best possible outcome for me.  As we all know, now may not be the particular time to be searching for a job, especially if you are in the education field.  This lands us future educators in to the idolized position of substitute teacher (hold all applause and "ooohs" and "ahhhs" until the end of the rant). 

Being someone who is as type-A as they come and used to a scheduled schedule and lists to complete what is already noted in the schedule, this day to day world of 5:30 a.m. alarms and fingers crossed that by 6:30 I'll be on my way to a some-what scheduled and working day is not what I would call...ideal.  Honestly, it makes me want to scream bloody murder at the top of my lungs.  But, alas...the silver lining...I thrive to teach.  I may be on my fourth cup of coffee and enjoying an episode of Will & Grace where Jack and Karen are off doing some sort of comedic adventure, but yesterday I was knee deep in six year olds and tomorrow I may be running the show in a fourth grade classroom.  Yes, I may not know I will be a teacher that day until 5:45 a.m., but when duty calls...I'm there...I guess I'm sort of like Superman...errrr.....woman (a Superwoman that may have a melt down, a freakout, and not know what to do in this completely unorganized world...that she has to try to organize...)

Moral of the story, or in my case I suppose the moral of the rant, it will be okay!  I'd love to find a support group for substitute teachers because there must be another type-A girl (or boy) out there just like myself who hasn't compeltely embraced the "unknown flying by the seat of your pants" life that substituting has thrust upon me.  Maybe I'd find some words of advice, or share some, or we could just have one big party filled with lists and crafts and a rendition of "Guess Who?" (remember that game?) that has all of our little faces on the cards and we try to guess who will be called.  Ahhh, yes, this is the life.  And if that pretty picture doesn't ease your mind, whoever you are and whatever you may be going through at this time, take a deep breath, focus on today, and keep this little verse in mind:

"For I am the Lord, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, "Do not fear; I will help you."  -- Isaiah  41:13

Fear

c/o google *

Fear -- even the word gives me the heebie jeebies.  It is debilitating, stomach turning, and that eery hooded figure that is lurking in the dark (only to be seen as what it really is, a clothes tree, once the light is turned on).  On the other hand, fear can be quite a beautiful thing.  The way I look at it, fear is only evident when there is something to be lost, pain to be felt, a question in your mind that after the object of one's fear is over and done with, things may not be the same.  So yes, on many a day I have met fear, and I am saying this for the record books:

From this point on, I shall greet fear as a friend, and retire with him in to a beautiful romance, for all that there is to fear in life, is fear itself. (And I'd rather just give him a big'ol smack-a-roo).

*A little side note:  If you ever type in "fear" in Google images, cover your eyes, unless you like the sort of eery pictures that tend to haunt me late in to the night.  This was the best I could do, minus posting a picture of someone with blood streaming from their eyeballs...or myself screaming my head off.

A&A

So, I must admit that I'm a faithful reader of blogs (which I guess could either fall in one or the other, or even both, of the categories we will soon discuss below), and this little blog over here is one of the main reasons.  I must insist that you head on over and check out Sydney's blog because she is phe-nom-i-nal!

This being said, I introduce you to a little thing that Sydney calls "Awkward and Awesome Thursdays" (I know, so fun, right?)  And that is why that little button is over there -->

Every Thursday she posts some awkward and awesome moments and I decided that I would give it a whirl, although, it will take quite sometime for my awkward and awesome-ness to be as amazing as hers, so again, check her out!

Here we go!

Awkward

1. The fact that I completely get beside myself over the fact that Disney movies are on tv for me to watch (i.e. The Lion King which was on last night and Tangled which is currently on my tv screen) and that I sing along to every song I know *picture me belting out Can You Feel the Love Tonight.

2. When I go out to the end of the driveway to bring in the carbage cans, in the pouring rain, in my rainboots...and pajamas.

3.  When I realize that the sixth graders in the class I am substituting in are bigger then me, like really bigger than me, like I look like a first grader next to them...and they notice it too.

4.  Posting a fourth "awkward" because I hate odd numbers...you've been warned.

Awesome

1.  Rainy days!  Because sometimes nothing beats being curled up on the couch, watching movies and drinking hot tea out of a Christmas mug.  (The Christmas mug may be awkward, but I'm going with awesome)

2.  Peanut butter toast.  Seriously, melted peanut butter is the epitome of awesomeness.

3.  Hanging out with 20-some kindergarteners for a whole entire day as their substitute teacher.  There is nothing more amazing then the things they are capable of learning (and saying).

4.  Cable knit sweaters with elblow patches, currently my obession and the most comfortable for dreary days and brunch dates with girlfriends.



alexander and the terrible horrible no good very bad day

For those of who are not in touch with their elementary literature or who have not been in touch with their inner child in quite some time (or those who may have, simply, never heard of this book before), I am referring to the below:

c/o goodreads.com

In this story we meet Alexander who is just having one of those days where everything that goes wrong, goes wrong.  We all have had one of these days and when I seemd to have one of these days (which seemes to happen quite frequently), I tend to always think of this little guy.  But I also tend to think of how often I don't have one of those days and then I ask myself "why are you complaining?" We all have one of those days where we just can't seem to reach above the surface and we all tend to fall in to the mode of why does this always happen to me or the classic I hate my life.  We all do it, I'd like to meet one person who doesn't, even for a glimpse second of misjudgement, who doesn't do it.  I try (after a brief moment of melting down and slumping in to my comfiest pair of sweatpants to mope), to list all of the things that aren't so terrible, horrible, no good, or very bad in my life and it tends to make things a little better.  (And if that fails, then a nice big piece of chocolate cake always is a close second)

So, in lue of Alexander, and all of you who may be having one of those epic terrible, horrible, no good, very bad days, I ask you to take a second and think of just one thing that might make you smile.  And if that doesn't work, come on back to my blog, I'll do my best to give you someone to relate to -- because isn't that all what we need some days?