iSpy some american pride

 
 
 

the beginning of my olympic obsession - downloading apps

a little red and white stripe action to support team usa during the opening ceremonies

texting about the olympics
best commentators

#USA
once a fan, always a fan

my instagram account looks a little like that lately - ultimately meaning there is lack of pictures being taken due to the fact that i've succumbed to a full-blown case of olympic-itis. so this post is just a little glimpse of my dedication to my country during the next two weeks.

if you want to find me until august 12th i'll be:

peering through my fingers as the women's gymnastics team goes for gold this evening (big shoes to fill - anyone else remember the magnificent 7?)

screaming like a maniac for michael phelps and the rest of the american swimmers.

holding my breath as misty may-treanor and kerri walsh-jennings go for an unblemished record.

oh yeah, and probably getting my classroom ready for the beginning of school, which should be an olympic event in and of itself. but we are talking about priorities here people. U-S-A.

p.s. hop on over to melissa's blog and join in

on the blog-hopping fun! i sure did!

olympic fever and a blog take over

today i will be over at the blank pages talking about my summer go-to item and completely taking over amy's blog.
this is the best thing that has happened to a monday in a long time!
if you have found me via my blog takeover then welcome! i hope you decide to stay awhile and follow along on my journey, and in return, i can get to know you all as well!

also, does anyone else have olympic fever? i swear i've got #teamUSA on my mind all.the.time. i think it is a little unhealthy how involved and how anxious i get while watching these events. i'm talking full out-peeking through my fingers-holding my breath-nervous for the outcome of these events. i even have two olympic apps downloaded (which, by the way, aren't working as well as i had hoped - hello, i want reminders!).
and bela karolyi. how precious are you on my tv screen right now?
what events will you be watching through these olympics?

twenty three in twenty three

one of my favorite blogs to follow (okay, okay, i also follower her on twitter and instagram, gotta be consistent people) is erin's blog. so when i saw her tweet the idea of doing a "26 in 26" post, i anticipated the post like a kid on christmas morning.

this girl is hilarious. how could i not?

and since she made it a link-up, i decided i'd try it out. and since i am only twenty-two for a few more short months, i figured i'd claim this my "23 in 23".

1. get to twenty-three followers! okay, kidding, just trying to stick with the theme. but i would love my goal to be 100 followers by the time i turn 23 (which is in october). then who knows, maybe up to 230 by the end of my 23 year? a girl can dream.

2. get in to shape, tone, and cleanse. i want to find a routine and stick to it.

3. on that note, get back in to a ballet class. probably one of the best workouts one could ever get and one of the things i miss most in my life.

4. purchase that plane ticket, get on that plane, and fly down to alabama to visit my best friend. she has been there for over a year and i just haven't gotten there yet. even better, drive back to pennsylvania with her after the visit.

5.  finally finish that college scrapbook that i have attempted to start three times now.

6. drive via motorcycle to our alma mater with my dad.

7. three words: black. friday. shopping. and do it with my sister, full out game-plan, all night, attack it head on. its like training for the hunger games, kinda, sorta.

8.  move back out of my parents house and move in to my very own apartment.

9. and once i am in that apartment, finally get the little dog that i've always dreamed of:

hi world, meet weasley. sweater and all. (and he will be named after ron weasley from harry potter. don't judge).

10. read at least one book a month.

11.  go to a lady antebellum or rascal flatts concert. country concert in general please!

12. see white christmas on broadway with my entire family in tow. family tradition taken to the next level? i think so.

13. get a contracted position at the school that i am long term subbing at this year. after this year of full year subbing i hope to be a permanent member of the district.

14. make it a point to talk to my girlfriends at least once a week. whether it be on the phone, via text, skype, or a girls night out, keep in constant touch.

15. fall in love. completely, hopelessly, in love. and be loved back the way i know i should be (and not settling for anything less).

16. rely more on my faith and in turn, rely on God and his timeing.

17. start cooking! and when i mean cooking i mean really cooking like recipes and directions and all the things i pin on pinterest that i want to do. so long pasta sides.

18. really learn how to utilize everything in my closet. maybe give kendi's thirty for thirty challenge a whirl.

19. bake christmas cookies with all the women of my family, just like we used to do, baby S included this year.

20. and on that note, try and wait until after thanksgiving to start listening to christmas music. if i can do that i think that i will forgive myself for not doing anything else on this list (sometimes you need some easy things to accomplish..baby steps..)

21. all of those crafts i pinned on pinterest? do some of them. my main goal is to send out hand-made, home-made christmas cards this year to my friends. think i can do it?

a christmas card i made last year

22. hello my name is positive polly. remind myself daily of the things i have to be thankful for.

23. finally get to a flyer's hockey game. i've been trying for the last three years of my life and maybe this year might just be my year.

what will you do in this next year of your life?

happiest of birthdays

"my friends remind me, by their very steadfastness,

that truth, beauty and goodness exist in the world,

and that, no matter what,

there are and always will be people loving people

through thick and thin."

happiest of birthdays janillybean. may twenty-one be one of your best years yet.

olive you.

perspectives and chocolate milk

tank h&m; skirt aerie by american eagle; sandals kohl's (all from earlier this season)

it is amazing what a good nights sleep can do to one's perspective. i went to bed in a terrible mood. and that mood was amplified by the fact that i didn't fall asleep until probably well after 12:30 a.m. but when i woke up (besides contemplating why i had a dream about chocolate milk) i felt a wave of unbelievable gratitude. a shift in perspective by about a million degrees. a sense of calm.  the sunshine that was streaming in my window certainly helped as well.

this little number in all of its poor photographic glory was worn one night on vacation. it was hard to narrow down which maxi skirt i wanted to take along with me but i definitely made the right decision. light-weight, breezy, i could just eat it up!

speaking of eating, err drinking. time for that glass of chocolate milk.
to catch a glimpse of a few more vacation pictures, head on over to my sissy's blog, one more time.

when in rome, do as the romans

  
   
baby S finally learned how to beat the rebel forces with a light saber, and how to rock her very own pair of stunna shades. and sand? pshhh...sand is nothing to little S. she crawls on it like she doesn't have a care in the world.
also, ask her any yes/no question in the book -- with a one grunt response for "yes" and two grunt response for "no" and she can answer it.
 
 
 

there is nothing i look forward to more as summer approaches than our family, all together, in one place - the beach. it has been this way for as long as i can remember and it is nothing short of amazing each and every year. this year i was even more excited knowing that this meant ten whole days with everyone i love most and no drives to new york or skype calls to see their faces.
i could ramble on forever about vacation. what we did and all. but instead i'll let the pictures do the talking with a little assistance from some stories.

the stories my family tells, as we are all circled up in the usual seating arrangement that our beach chairs seem to find, revolve around, but are not limited to:

-- my father and his small accident with the paring knife. four stitches later and he is water-banned for at least forty-eight hours. which led to the discussion of the "finger condoms"...which you can only imagine where that led to...i don't make this stuff up.

-- the time my cousin forgot she had nail polish remover on the top shelf in her bathroom and proceed to spill it all in her hair and eyes and face when she had to be in work in ten minutes. oh, and having no idea how it would react to her meds her psychiatrist prescribes her.

-- good cat, good cat, hideous.
-- the trials and tribulations of a pedestrian.
-- bejeweled and bedazzled walkers.

-- the time my aunt j's cat brought a bird in to the house. and it was still alive. and flying.

-- the time my aunt j and uncle j told my dad to pretend he was blind and would walk him and ran him straight in to a pole.

-- conversations my grandmother and grandfather used to have.

-- the time my aunt j went out with some of the cousins and my aunt k. the "low" song came on. and everyone went low (and my aunt j, can't get low unless she has some assistance - thus she demonstrated). and when they all came up a lady emerged high above the crowd as if she was being carried. it was my aunt k.

-- that one time my cousin picked up a girl at a gas station and fed her triscuits.
-- that one year that my uncle decided to wear a speedo and pose baywatch style on the beach for all to see.

         

p.s. if you'd like to see more of my vacation, which i know you do, 

visit my sister over here on her blog! 

back to reality with some reality tv

i'm back!
i don't think i even know how to write a post right now.i blame my post-vacation brain combined with me pre-anxiety induced brain that is awaiting me as soon as i gather up the courage to open up my e-mail and get down to business.
it makes me really long for days like these:

where all i have to do is sit in front of the fire, drink hot cocoa all day, and get tons of things accomplished without getting out of my sweatpants. darn the days where the sun shines and the temperatures are beautiful and all i want to do is absolutely nothing but lay by the pool. or more like the beach.
ten days too long? never. but it makes getting back in the swing of things a little difficult...
thank goodness i'm a teacher or else i would've had to take a day off today due to post-vacation-stress-syndrome.

in other news, i have one ramble for you today.
emily picked jef (with one f). praises all around.
now i'll admit i had my reservations about the boy at the beginning of this season. naturally, because i was rooting for sean. which naturally, when watching the previews made me anticipate she ditched both jef and arie - who by the way, just creeps me out - and decided she really loved sean. just like the rest of America, i'm sure. but as his hair grew out and he charmed me from at home on my couch, i really was rooting for the guy. and you bet i couldn't get enough of him with the pink goggles on. and it just about was the sweetest icing on the cake when jef broke out that entire proposal. not to mention the line i loved most: "i believe that God puts people in our lives at exactly the right time." amen.

yes yes, it may be reality tv show. but i'm rooting for #teamjem.
and obviously i am a sucker for any kind of romance. even if it is on national television.

now tomorrow, tomorrow will be a different story. because i won't have vacation-fried-brain anymore (or so i hope) and i can actually write a post that has a little more substance than my take on the bachelorette. more substance as in a ton of instagram pics from vacation with some pretty interesting captions and a funny story or two.

just a wednesday morning on vacation

my niece is currently crawling underneath the table. 

just a typical wednesday morning on vacation.

typical mid-week, mid-vacation type day where the temperatures are going to be reaching the 90's and the heat index is going to be well over 105 degrees. this shall make for quite an interesting day and an extensive amount of time away from my chair and in the ocean.
and now it seems just silly to post my typical "past week of instagram" photos and post a few of the sites of instagram photos, a la vacation, thus far.

and also because i had all of these really great vacation-esque posts: funny stories, great outfit pics, crazy family tell-alls. and my vacation brain just doesn't know what to say right now except "uhhhhhh".

and i really have no business writing a post right now.
(and maybe because my sister hogged the laptop this morning...)

 

  

 



sand, sun, happiness.

 dad is such a trooper.

by far, the best purchase i've made this summer.

skinny girl white peach margarita. end of story.

perfect colors for an at vacation home mani/pedi

baby S playing peek-a-boo.

 

now, me and my vacation-fried brain are going to enjoy some more of my crazy family.

and being launched in to the ocean, full out basket-toss style.

which may also be a cause of my vacation brain...

for some funny family stories so far, check out my sissy's blog over here. you won't regret it.