Shower Photos

Steve and I are lucky to have wonderful people in our lives who have hosted showers for us. I thought I'd share a few of the pictures with you.

Shower #1: in Binghamton, New York over Christmas

Steve is already ready to kill me...This can't bode well.

Shower #2: Thrown by my aunts in Zebulon, NC

Me and my mom



Me with my mom and future mother-in-law



Me and my bride's maid, Heady

Shower #3: Given by my fabulous English peeps

(Anyone notice a theme here? In Binghamton I'm wearing a zebra print cardigan, in Zebulon a zebra print dress, and at the school shower zebra print sunglasses. I promise there are items in my wardrobe that do not have zebra print on them.)

Where I'm From

While I was at NCCAT last year we did an activity in which we described where we were from in poem form. The idea came from a poem by George Ella Lyon. I thought I'd share where I'm from with you.

I am from buttons and the bag
of scraps and scissors that
cut in a jagged line and "you be
still while my stories are on."
I am from rolling pins and flour:
chicken pastry and apple jacks
that I got to make myself.
I am from the brier patch and Cabbage
Patch kids. From pink bows and
pink flowers by the pump house.
I am from falling asleep in the
swing waiting for mama and daddy.

I am from Sunday School, Bible School,
and Grandma's every Sunday. I am
from go play in the yard and
stay out of the field and
the rocks that hurt my feet. I am
from Ollie and Joe and scuppernongs
that might be ripe. I am from
Miss Patsy's and Miss Debbie's and a
gold star on my forehead if I
remember the magic word.

I am from Jem and the Rockers and
hot rollers. I am from a new red book
bag and bus steps that were too
big for my little legs that would
take me places I'd never been, but
would always bring me right back
where I belong.

I love haiku!

While going through some papers I found these haiku. I hope you enjoy them.

Oh learning cottage!
A mobile education.
Knowledge on four wheels.

(My first year teaching at my current school I taught 25 freshmen in a single-wide trailer built in 1972.)

Oh, brown podium,
how much longer will you last?
Is today the day?

What fall tastes like...

My friend Nancy makes these wonderful pumpkin chocolate chip cookies and I decided that I'd give it a whirl. The recipe is from a blog called Joy the Baker. I thought I'd give it a try, and share my adventures in baking with you, my faithful and gentle reader. (BTW...I just tasted one from the first batch and they're delish!)

They look yummy already!

(This is only the second time I've ever used my mixer, and I've had it almost a year!)

Mmmm...looking more and more yummy by the minute!

Wow, those are big cookies!

The worst part of baking..

THE BEST PART!

Moving...

The time has finally come. It's time to pack up my tiny apartment and move. My lease is up at the end of December and I'm getting married in April so I can't stay here. For three and a half months I will be living in my childhood bedroom. This should be an interesting experience. I love my family very much, but they are a little different from me. I like to come home most afternoons and just sit in silence for a little while. (I teach in a high school. I hear this cacophony of noise all day long.) It's not so quiet at my parents' house. There's also the fact of living in just one room. Most of my stuff will be taken to Steve's house (where we'll be living after the wedding) now, but it will be quite an adjustment to live in just one room. I can't believe the wedding is only 5 months and one day away, and starting to pack up my stuff makes it seem that much more real and so much closer.

I love my apartment and I'm a little sad about selling some of my stuff or getting rid of some of it, but I just have to. Steve and I have a lot of stuff between us. Since I'm moving out, I thought I'd take this chance to share my little apartment. It's been a good place to live. (BTW, if anyone wants to buy or knows someone who needs a couch and love seat let me know!)

An open letter to Maura Kelly

This blog was recently published on the Marie Claire website and this is my response.

Dear Maura,
I am deeply offended by your blog. I find it to be ignorant, discriminatory, and narrow-minded. Being a big girl, I am used to stares, whispers, and jokes. I can even laugh at a genuinely clever fat joke, and occasionally make some myself. What you did in your article is not funny. It is mean spirited and hurtful. You claim that you have suffered from an eating disorder so you should know, better than anyone, that sometimes it is difficult to control your eating habits. Is the answer to lose weight to exercise more and eat less? Of course. But if it were truly just that simple there wouldn't be a single fat person in the world. Who would choose to be pointed at by children, have to wear ugly ill fitting clothes, wonder if the chair will support them (or even if their ass will fit in it?), or have to read hurtful blogs like yours? Am I making excuses for being fat? I am not. I just want you to realize that eating too much and exercising too little aren't the only factors at work here. There's also genetics, chemicals in your brain, coping mechanisms, learned behaviors, and there is even some research that links obesity to OCD. I understand that I'm fat and I take responsibility for that, but eating and exercising aren't my only problems.
Finally, fat people deserve to find love in their lives. I waited a long time to find it and I found it with a man who is also overweight. I love him for who he is, ALL of him and he feels the same way about me. I love the show Mike and Molly. I think it is a sweet show. I am always happy when anyone finds love in this world. There's not nearly enough of it, so why trash it when you see it? (BTW, I understand these are fictional characters. I'm speaking on behalf of all of us in big relationships). Celebrate love, no matter what it looks like, even if it's two fatties.
A.

TheKnot

TheKnot

Blast from the Past...

While looking back through my blog I came across the following post:
"I am almost 30 years old. I am single. I have never had a real boyfriend. I want to change that. I want to wake up on Sunday, July 12 (my 30th birthday) in the arms of a man that I love (or at least really really like), not staring at the dog's butt (you'd be surprised at how many mornings this is the sight that greets me when I open my eyes). This morning I subscribed to eHarmony. I've tried Match.com before, with little success, and want to try something new. Their prices are usually too high, but they had a sale (and I'm a sucker for a sale) so I decided to try it. I'm trying not to get my hopes up. So far all of the men seem to be most proud of "keeping physically fit" which is admirable, but I have a sneaking suspicion that those aren't the guys that are going to find me appealing. And besides, I like a man who's a little chunky himself. Anyway, I've paid for three months. I guess if I get at least one decent date out of it it'll be worth it. "
I posted this on February 21, 2009. Looking back, I can't believe how things have changed since then. Subscribing to eHarmony that day changed my life. If I hadn't I never would have met Steve. I wouldn 't be about to marry the most amazing man on the planet and my best friend. My favorite line is the last one. I can honestly say that that was the best $70 I ever spent.

Lonesome Dove

Dear Lonesome Dove,
You are one of the best books I've ever read in my life. I love (and hate) your characters and your plots. Reading you makes me happy. Please don't ever end.

What makes you authentically you?

Last week my college roomated posted this question on her blog: What makes you authentically you? What makes you who you are? Different from everyone else? Well, here's a run-down of some of the things that make me authentically me.
1. I hate waking up early. If I had my choice I'd stay up late and sleep late.
2. I like the story. I want to know why and how about everything. And if you tell me about a person I'm going to make you describe him/her to me so that I can get a mental image.
3. As previously mentioned, I am lazy about the little things. Just today I didn't make file folders for vocab tests because I just didn't want to.
4. I've become more domestic since dating Steve and I like it. I cook, clean, do yard work, and I've never been happier. Even when I'm picking up pine cones.
5. I worry that people think I'm not smart.
6. I can never watch the following movies enough: Love Actually, Steel Magnolias, Sense and Sensibility.
7. I look at my engagement ring a million times a day. I really belived that I'd be single forever and I'm still amazed that I'm actually getting married.
8. I am a strict follower of expiration dates.
9. I like to be surrounded by pictures of the people I love.
10. I like to sing to my dog. I make up songs and put her name into other songs. "I love Grace, from her tail up to her face..."
11. I wish I was sillier (sometimes, not all the time).
12. Venice is my favorite place on Earth and think that I could live there even though it's so far away from my family.
13. I am a slow reader. I'm very thorough and can't skim anything: I have to read every single word. I used to be embarassed by that fact but now I think it helps me relate to my students.
14. I don't hate football. In fact, I have a fantasy team.
15. I have a hard time making decisions. I usually know what I want, I just have a hard time committing to it.
Keep this topic going. What makes you authentically you?

Random acts of blogging...

I briefly abandoned my blogging endeavor only to now be addicted to posting things that people may or may not read. So today I'm going to share some random information. Just random little facts that I feel compelled to share with the world.

1. I am a terrible speller. I have no idea whether compelled has one l or two. Usually I check this type of thing. And people always say to me: "but you're an English teacher! Shouldn't you be able to spell?" No, I shouldn't. I know lots of big words, I just don't know how to spell them.
2. I'm lazy about the little things. Laundry? Sure I'll do it. Vacuum? Okay.(BTW, who the hell knew that vacuum had two 'u's? It certainly wasn't me!) Put the Netflix movie in the mailbox? Check the correct spelling of compelled? No way. That's too much work.
3. I think my job would be absolutely perfect if school started at 9:45 instead of 7:45. Would it be too much to ask for a girl to get to sleep until 7:00 instead of waking up at 5:00?
4. That is all.

Going to the chapel...

As many of you know, gentle readers, I am getting married! So far the planning hasn't been too bad. Here's my checklist:
1. Find a church DONE!
2. Find a minister DONE!
3. Find a reception hall DONE!
4. Buy a dress DONE!
5. Find a caterer DONE!
6. Find a baker DONE!
8. Find a florist DONE!
9. Pick out invitations DONE!

There's lots more to do, but as you can see, I'm well on my way!

Off to a great start

This year is off to a great start so far. I have great classes and wonderful students. I really feel like I'm accomplishing something. I don't remember the last time I've been this happy professionally. Last year I really struggled. Part of it was my attitude and part of it was challenges I faced at work. Over the summer I had a come to Jesus meeting with myself and realized that I had to change: I can't control the challenges I face, but I can control my reaction to and attitudes towards them. I made up my mind that this year would be better. And it is! Let's hope this continues!

Venito: Bellissimo!

The last stop on our Italian vacation was Venice. Beautiful Venice. We turned in the rental car at Marco Polo Airport (thank goodness!) and hopped on a water bus that took us to the island that is Venice. Venice is an island (actually 117 of them connected by bridges) that has absolutely no cars. What a welcome change! We walked most everywhere we went while there. The only other option is to take some type of boat. On our first night there we found that the map given to us by the hotel was nearly completely useless: the millions of little side streets and alleys that makes up Venice are not on the map. This took some getting used to for Steve. I, however, liked just wandering down streets, finding unexpected things around each corner, hoping you were walking in the right direction. On our first night there we ate in an enchanting restaurant that had a back patio with a ceiling of vines with lanterns hanging from them. It was very romantic. (The food was also very good: tagliatelle with crab sauce...yum). We visited the Doge's palace, St. Marks Square and Basilica, and the Ponte di Rialto. All of these places were packed with tourists but as soon as you were away from these sights Venice was much less crowded and you could really take in the city.
The highlight of our time in Venice was the gondola ride. What is more romantic than a gondola ride? Our gondolier began the ride by pointing out some of the sights we passed and soon the gondolier in front of us began to sing. About halfway through the ride Steve proposed. (He did a very good job!) After the gondola ride we went for gelato (our favorite dessert!) and then walked back to the hotel. The perfect end to the perfect vacation!
There's not much left to tell of our Italian vacation. The next day we took a train back to Rome (on this trip we used every type of transportation imaginable: plane, car, bus, subway, boat, gondola, train) which was nice- we got to see lots of the countryside. We spent the night at a hotel close to the airport to make our early flight (turns out they would have held the plane if we'd been late- they held it for other people!) and headed back to reality (almost, we still got to fly home in first class). Our Italian vacation was amazing. Italy is more amazing and beautiful than I could have ever imagined. Oh, and while we were in Rome we both threw a coin backwards with our right hand over our left shoulder in Trevi Fountain, just to make sure that we go back one day!

Pisa

Ah, Pisa. Pisa was the second stop on our Italian vacation. In order to get there we rented a car and drove from Rome. This, I believed, was going to be the true test of our relationship. I'm not a fantastic navigator and driving in Italy is difficult under the best circumstances. I believed that if we could make it through driving in Italy we could make it through anything. Once we got out of Rome the Autostrada (Interstate) wasn't so bad. Once we got to Pisa our directions didn't work quite so well, though. We got lost and wound up having to go to the airport and hire a taxi to take us to the hotel. Once we were there we learned that the hotel had everything that it had promised...just down the street. "You need to park your car? You can do that just down the street." "You want to use the internet? Well, ours is down but you can use it at our sister hotel...just down the street." "You want to exchange money? You can do that at the bank...just down the street!" All other things considered, the hotel was nice and very cute. Unlike Rome, all of the sites in Pisa are conveniently located in one location. With one stop you can see the Leaning Tower, the Duomo, and the Baptistery. They are all very beautiful and the tower leans more than I imagined. While in Pisa I had the best food that I'd ever eaten. We had dinner at Osteria dei Cavalieri and it was amazing, even though when I first looked at the menu nothing excited me. For an appetizer we had the prosciutto and fried dough (if you've never eaten prosciutto you absolutely must. It's delicious.) For my main course I ordered homemade tagliatelline with duck, carrots, and juniper berries. I was hesitant to order the duck because I'd never had it before and let's face it, they're quite cute. Steve convinced me to take a chance and I did and I'm so glad. I've never tasted something so delicious in my life. For desert I had crunchy egg ice cream with almonds (I know, sounds kind of gross- crunchy egg ice cream?) and it was heavenly. That meal was the highlight of my time in Pisa. Pisa was a nice change from Rome, much slower and quieter. We enjoyed our time in Pisa (and definitely the food) but our favorite was Venice, which I will chronicle next time, dear reader.

ROME!

Our first stop on our Italian vacation was in the Eternal City: Rome. Rome is amazing and I loved being there (even though it was in the middle of a heat wave and felt like we were on the surface of the sun the whole time). There are so many amazing things to see in Rome. My favorites were Trevi Fountain and the Pantheon. One of my favorite things about Rome is its contradictions. One minute you're admiring ruins that are thousands of years old and were once the center of nearly the entire known world and the next you're nearly run over by a taxi. (Crossing the street in Rome is like a high-stakes game of dodgeball and driving is an extreme sport. Doing either entails risk to life and limb and is not for the faint of heart.) We spent 3 days in Rome and both agree that if you ever find yourself in Italy Rome is definitely somewhere that you must visit.
(A side note: The picture above is one Steve took of me at lunch one day. Behind me is Piazza Navona, one of the most beautiful in the city. It was certainly a wonderful setting for lunch. Just a week later we were back in Clayton and had lunch at Wendy's where I had a wonderful view of a gas station. Oh how things change!)

Who'd have guessed?

In January 2009 when I started this blog, the goal of it was to write about getting off my butt, out of my house, and meeting new people. Who knew then how much things would change? I just returned from Italy (an AMAZING trip about which I will post soon!) where Steve asked me to marry him. 20 months ago when I started this blog if someone had told me that I'd be here now I would never have believed them. I would have laughed at them and asked them how much they'd had to drink. But here I am: blissfully happy, in love with and engaged to the most amazing man in the world. Isn't it amazing how quickly life can change, and just when you least expect it? (BTW, the picture was taken on the gondola just a few minutes after he proposed. He did a good job!)

ITALY!

Many of you know that I'm off to Italy next week. I could not possibly be more excited.

Too fabulous for words!

I saw this clutch on the Kate Spade website and fell completely in love with it. It's too expensive to own but too cute not to share with the world. I wonder if Daisy Buchannan would own one if she was a real girl.

LOVE IT!

I saw this today while I was browsing the web and fell completely in love with it. Kate Spade, you're a genius!