"Hate cannot drive out hate..." -MLK

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Keeping this in mind today as we remember a great man and inaugurate our President. Praying for those who lead our great country and the decisions they make.

Enjoy this beautiful day y'all!

7 quickies

Because of my wee winter break hiatus of sorts/post winter break holy-cow-its-too-cray-to-do-anything-but -teach-eat-sleep (too many hyphens? never) hiatus... I haven't posted any quick takes in quite a while! I'm also posting these not on Friday (rule breaker = me). BUT I did start them on Friday so it counts. So here we go. Joining Jen and some other lovely blogger ladies (bladies?)! Let's do the         thing (family friendly? always).

1. First week back at school. Always a bit of a doooooozy but we made it. I can honestly say that reflecting back on this week compared to last semester that this week was the hardest one I have had so far this year. Seeing the glass half full (after a good few days of seeing it very, very empty and not filled with anything good), I'm grateful that this kind of week showed itself half way through the school year. Now moving on to the rest of the semester and resting assured that I am doing the absolute best I can with my kiddos and everyone involved in their educational success.

2. Quilting. So one of my sweet teammates at work is expecting a baby girl and I am going to make a baby quilt for this little bit! I took a few sewing classes growing up courtesy of a mother and grandmother who both saw sewing as a useful skill and now I'm going to try and put what was learned to good use! I'm secretly hoping that this might become a new hobby. We'll see, check back later to see if I still have all of my fingers after using a rotary cutter (first go-round was a bit scary).

3. Sarah + Kelly wedding. Two of our very favorite people got married last week. This couple is such an amazing unit and to see them get married and be a part of their day/weekend was such an incredible experience. I'm still in a dreamy wedding haze from this celebration. When you see something good, it's goooooood.

4. Winter break... I miss you. I wrote this one on Friday after having a tough couple of days at school. The weekend has helped significantly. I really miss the days that were the best mix of productive + lazy. I miss wearing stretchy pants for a large portion of the day and making up my own schedule...but honestly I think I'm good. Happy to be back to the regimented grind of sorts and having a schedule, and yes even wearing real pants.

5.Thankful for my job, friends, family, etc. It was really nice to come back to school knowing that I have a great group of people I work with. I was repeatedly reminded this week of how lucky I am to work with a team of creative, loving women on a daily basis. I don't think a day goes by where I don't grow or learn in some new way.

6. Resolutions....still coming. Maybe next year one of my resolutions will be to think of my resolutions further in advance... or maybe that can be this year. Some things on the list though are:
-healthier eating decisions/meal planning
-getting a decent amount of sleep/becoming a grown up
-making commitments and keeping them
-saying no to enjoy time rather than just fill up my schedule

Like I said...formal post to (hopefully) follow but I'm liking where it's going so far.

7. WEEKEND. Almost over, but still enjoying it immensely. :)


Happy Sunday y'all!

be grateful

print via Unraveled Designs

I found this etsy shop by way of a friend of mine.

Really trying to remind myself of that whole "Be Grateful" part of this print.

The whole message is a great reminder that I don't think I hear often enough. One that is telling me to live life to the fullest and to not dwell on negatives that may come my way. 

Today was one of those days. Where things I could only see as negative were rolling in one after the other. Here's this. Here's this. Oh, and here's this. It is hard for any human being to stand up and seek out positive feelings after one of those days. But I don't want to waste time and I want to use the time I do have to appreciate this life. Not saying I'm about to bound off into a field of butterflies and unicorns, but I'm grateful for artists like this who provide a much needed reminder after a day like today.

2013

Happy New Year!

I can't believe that we are already two days into this glorious new year. I wanted to write a little something a few days ago to sum up 2012 but I just never got around to it with everything that was the end of the year. Not to dwell too much, because I definitely am ready to get this new year started off right, but 2012 was a fantastic year. I still can't believe all of the changes, events, new friends, and good times that were had. This will forever be a year held close to my heart because it made me realize so much about myself and this beautiful life.

With that being said, I'm excited for 2013 to get in motion! I have yet to really plan out any resolution type goals. I am still thinking about how I can push myself in this next year. But I know that one of them is going to be to blog regularly. I want to see this space grow and to become a way to keep track of our little family and our adventures together.

I hope that everyone had a happy and safe celebration with loved ones! To a new year with new opportunities!

thanks

I hope everyone had a relaxing and refreshing holiday break. Ours was filled with holiday shopping, travel, and making some big purchases!

It was our first Thanksgiving together as a married couple and we make the trek down to New Orleans to spend time with my husbubs family. I love that city and it will always be one of my favorite places. I have spent Thanksgiving with my in-laws before they were my in-laws, but still something was different about this trip. I missed my family but it hasn't ceased to amaze me how excited I am about all these new feelings and emotions marriage has brought along. I'm excited for more holidays with both of our families and to experience all of this together. Woohoo marriage!

Moving into this week has been hard just because I was finally getting into the swing of holiday things. Finally finding the appreciation in relaxation and down time. Lots of things on the brain this week though even with the busy-ness that has consumed my life again. Hoping to find time to write it down and reflect on a few things. 

Oh and this baby has helped with the commute back to the daily grind ;)

Happy new week people! Happy start to a wonderful holiday season! 

gobble break!

Oh, Thanksgiving break. This little chunk of vacation is so well timed. After a day filled with Thanksgiving activities and ending with a surprise feast for my kiddos at school I was truly beat. I'm so ready to soak up some time with friends, family, and hoping to catch a few moments alone in the process. I want to take in every bit of the start of this holiday season and really live it. Seeing this video was a great start to the day (besides sleeping in until 7:30am and getting served breakfast in bed;), people really are good.

"Despite everything, I believe that people are really good at heart."

-Ann Frank

(interesting tidbit- this was the quote I put with my picture my senior year of high school) 

quickies

Joining Jen and others over here for 7 little quicks.

1. Finally not feeling like a zombie anymore. I spent the better half of this week walking around half asleep and sniffly. I'm super happy to not have anything more than some residual sneezes and a scratchy voice left over. I don't think I've had a cold that bad in a while but honestly it could have been worse. Strep throat has been going around my classroom/our school for the semester and I would much rather take some sneezes over a beastly sore throat. I've also had a wonderful teammate taking care of me all week and my super husband by my side helping me with grading and supplying me with spicy pho. I have learned a little married life lesson throughout this week. When one spouse gets sick the other shall soon follow. Now beardyhubs has the zombie cold so I suppose it's my turn to play doctor and get him feeling better.  

2. On the search for the perfect planner. As I was perusing the heavenly aisles of office supplies during my weekly* Target-only-buying-sale-stuff-and-still-spending-too-much-money trip. It dawned on me that I needed to start my yearly search for the perfect planner... I love planners. I know that I could keep all of my social activities on my phone and be really tech-savvy and such. But there is just something about writing it down in a planner, staying organized, and flipping through the pages. I have been trying to find the perfect planner for years. One that is durable and has a monthly calendar as well as week days to write things down. Something not terribly expensive. Something that I will actually want to use the entire year.

I came across this beauty this week. Not sure if I'm willing to shell out the 50 bucks for a planner. I may just need to put it on the Christmas list for now...

3. THANKSGIVING. As I was writing my lesson plans this week I decided to go ahead and be an overachiever and write next week's 5 days + the 2 days before T-giving break. It got me REALLY excited. Oh beautiful break you are so close. SO CLOSE. This past month has been hard, stressful, and full of work. I'm so ready for a break. Spending time with family and friends and finding relaxation. We are heading down to NOLA for this holiday and I could not be happier!

4. Friends. As I said before, this week was tough but made better by people taking care of me. Other friend -time things were super fun Zumba class on Wednesday and dinner with a friend, who I had not talked to in a while, last night. I'm so thankful for these people that have been put in my life. Dancing with my friends on Wednesday lifted my spirits so much. I've missed dancing with them. Dinner last night was so needed and I'm looking forward to more time spent with that friend in the future. I'm seriously blessed.

5.  Musics. 

Song that I'm really liking right now. All good music taste credit goes to my hubbubs. Also, I just got spotify and my mind has been blown.

(photo credit: NY Times)

6. Election. Well my Facebook feed has been filled with comments regarding the election, as I'm sure yours has as well. I won't comment on my feeling towards the day-after statuses but I will comment on the day-of posts. It was refreshing to see so many of my family and friends really encouraging each other to get out and vote. So many saying that it didn't matter which party you wished to vote for as long as you just went out and  participated. So many people just excited and feeling patriotic, feeling blessed to be a part of our nation. I really hope that we can keep up those feelings, the ones that encourage togetherness and a sense of oneness as a country. I like those feelings and think they are going to result in better things to come for our country. 'MURICA.

7. BED DAY! Tomorrow. Is. THE. Day!!!!!!! We are getting our super wonderful amazing king sized mattress and bed frame. No more elbows accidentally hitting faces and a mattress that will hopefully not leave our backs in knots. I plan on sleeping most of the weekend.

7.5 Today was a really good day. 

Done, and done. So they weren't so quickish.

HAPPY WEEKEND!