Weekending: Black Friday & Holiday Decor!

We had a great holiday weekend! We went to my in-laws for Thanksgiving and had a relaxing day and delicious dinner. Thanksgiving night I went out with my sister in law for some Black Friday shopping and I got everything on my list! I was so happy with all of the great deals that I got and all of the gifts I was able to buy.

Friday was the Apple Cup, our huge rivalry football game. We went to a restaurant to watch it with some of our friends from college who live in my husbands home town. Our quarterback was injured at the last game so our back-up stared and it was ugly. Probably the worst game of the season which totally ruined the day. Such a disappointment. Thank goodness we have a bowl game to look forward to.

Saturday we drove back home and went to my mom's to visit with my brother who is home from grad school, have dinner with the family, and decorate my mom's house for Christmas. Even since we moved out we try to come together to decorate with my mom and keep the tradition alive so I was glad that we were able to again this year. 

Sunday after church we came home and set up our Christmas decorations! We still have a ways to go, but I am most excited about our new nativity.

Linking up with Meghan!

Have a great week! 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Wishing you all a wonderful Thanksgiving filled with laughter, smiles, and delicious food! May you all enjoy the day with your friends and families.  

Wedding Wednesday: The Ceremony

Happy Wednesday, time for another Wedding Wednesday!

As I was planning our wedding I tried to make sure that the ceremony was meaningful, because that is truly the heart of the wedding. We kept ours pretty traditional and I loved it. 

My dad walked me down the aisle and it was such a surreal moment. I tried to take it all in, I remember looking at my family and friends in the seats and also looking at my future husband. What a special moment. 

Our pastor said some great words and one part that stands out was him talking about how from this moment forward we have to always put each other first in our lives...that our partner will come before any job, activity, or other friend. I laughed, thinking of my best friend who I am extremely close with (she jokes I am the third person in her marriage), and turned to look at her and our photographer caught this picture, priceless. 

We wrote our own vows and when C said his he cried the whole time. He could not keep it together. It made me tear up seeing him cry, basically everyone was crying their eyes out...talk about water works. I made it through mine without crying. I think it was just full on 'teacher mode' with public speaking.

We did a memory box that we placed letters in from our family members and each other. We are going to display it in our house and open it in 10 years. I wanted something different and unique so that's when I found this idea. 

I remember feeling so relieved when we finally got to have our first kiss and walk back down the aisle as husband and wife. It was official, we were married! 

Linking up! 

Thanksgiving Week.

It doesn't seem like Thanksgiving week to me. I'm not sure if it is just because I have been so busy, but the time has seriously flown by. I feel like it was just summer time. Anyways, whether I believe it or not, it's already Thanksgiving. I wanted to take a minute to talk about things that I am thankful for, because there are so many.

Jesus. He gave me life, gives me everything I could ever need, and truly loves me.

My husband. My other half. The one who hold me when I cry, tickles me when I need a laugh, supports me in everything, and loves me unconditionally.

My best friend. The one I can count on for anything and everything.

My job. Teaching is so much more than a job, its a passion. My kids fill my heart every day and without a doubt they have changed my life and continue to  each day. My job also provides me with an income that allows me to have enough money for anything that I need and most things that I want. I also have the best coworkers, so blessed.

My family. I have two parents who love me, siblings who I have great relationships with, and extended family who all care about me. We may not all get along, but we come together when we need to and all love each other.

My apartment. As much as I am eager to get into a house, I love our little home together. It's clean, warm, and comfortable.

My friends. I have such a strong group of friends who I know will always have my back and are only a phone call away. We might not see each other often, but there is a depth to our friendships that will always remain.

My church. My husband and I have both been getting more involved in our church and it really is starting to feel like home. I am leading a group of high school girls now and he serves in the worship band. We are meeting more people and I am loving it even more.

I hope all of you are feeling as blessed and thankful as I am this week. Sometimes even when it's hard, it helps to focus on the good, because there is so much good in our lives even through the difficulties. 

Weekending: Solo & Sick

My husband was out of town this weekend so that meant time for me to rest and try to sick this sickness I have had all week. After school on Friday I had to move the piglets from our school barn to the student farm and get them all settled there. 

I was home by 5pm and I showered and curled up on the couch which is where I spent the evening. I watched Hunger Games and was planning future vacations. I check prices and plan our vacations in my head way too often. Our next trip will be Vegas for 4 days over spring break and I can't wait. I'm ready to book it so that I can stop obsessing over hotels and plane tickets. Then I'll just focus on the fun stuff, like what we should do when we get there. 

Saturday morning I woke up, still sick, but not sick enough to stop me from shopping. My best friend and I hit the mall and I got some great Christmas presents. I mostly bought things for my hubby, but also got a sweater for my aunt and a photo album for my in-laws. Then I came home and wrapped all of the Christmas presents we have so far. There's actually quite a few! I still have a list of things I want to buy, but I am very happy with my progress so far. 

Sunday morning I went to church and then I went to my mom's house. We were off for some more Christmas shopping! I love hanging out with my mom and shopping is our favorite thing to do together. I got a few more gifts and we got our Christmas PJ's. 

I came home and relaxed the rest of the evening. Did my husband's laundry and cleaned up a little bit. It's a short week (thank goodness), but we are going out of town for Thanksgiving so I want everything to be put together so we don't have to come home to a mess. Here's to hoping this is an easier week. 

Linking up with Meghan!

Friday Favorites: Stress

This week has been incredibly overwhelming. My teaching partner had a health emergency last week so now I have to run a two person program solo. I think this week was worse than I thought it would be so I'm hoping that next week is easier. Here my favorite things that kept me going through this week.

Carrie! 

I'm obsessed with this cd. I listen to it non-stop in my car. It's hard to pick a favorite because I love them all but I'm going to go with 'Dirty Laundry' and 'Heartbeat'. 

Piglets!

Aren't they the cutest!? A lot of my stress is coming from these little creatures, but how can you not love them at the same time? 

Thanksgiving Break 

Knowing that next week is a 3 day week is giving me some hope and energy to make it through. 

Tylenol Cold

This is the best stuff on the planet. I've been sick all week, on top of this stress and this is the one medication that I take. It makes me at least be able to survive the day. 

My husband. 

I love him so much and he has been such a trooper with me this week. He knows how to handle me when I'm stressed, comfort me when I'm sick, and make me smile no matter what. I love him so much. 

This weekend I have some plans with my best friend and my mom, but other than that I really need to rest. I'm so exhausted and mentally worn out. 

Linking up with my favorites this week with Amanda!

Weekending:

I love weekends, I seriously can't get enough of them. I wish they were longer and more often, but I guess I just need to be thankful for what we get.

Friday when I got home from school and was looking at my twitter I saw #PrayforParis and that sums up that afternoon. It is absolutely heartbreaking and terrifying to read and hear about these attacks.

Friday night we had our state playoff game for football and it was a hard fought battle but sadly our  team lost. I felt bad for them and the fact that after working so hard all year the season is over just like that. They have a lot to be proud of though. 

Saturday morning I had to go pick up pigs! The life of an agriculture teacher. :) I didn't get any picures of them because my phone died by they are adorable. I'll take some tomorrow to share. Our students get to raise them and show them at the fair in the spring. It's such a cool experience, I wish I had that opportunity when I was a high schooler. 

Saturday night we had a big football game, WSU vs. UCLA. We invited some friends over to watch the game and it was a lot of fun. We won in the last few seconds and it was epic. Not only are we bowl eligible but we have won SEVEN games. This might not sound like a lot for most of you, but this is a team that was 1-11 my freshman year and I think won a total of 4 conference games in my entire college career. We are finally going places.  

Sunday morning C was drumming with the worship band at church so he had to get their early so I went to Starbucks to do some prep for my small group. After church my mom and I went Christmas shopping! It snowed up in the mountains and was so pretty. It really got me in the mood for the holidays. 

In the afternoon my hubby bought my a new iPhone! I've been begging and complaining for months (I had a 4S for 3 1/2 years!) and I love my new phone. It's amazing. 

The picture quality is one of my favorite things. Plus it's bigger, faster, and just overall beautiful. 

I took a sick day today because I have to get a root canal, joy. :( I'll be spending my afternoon on the couch watching lots of tv. 

Linking up with Meghan

Weekending:

I can't believe another weekend is over, they seriously fly by! 

Friday night I just relaxed at home and did some online shopping. I was thinking about going to our first playoff game for the school I teach at but it was raining so I didn't feel like freezing out there. They won so maybe I'll go this week and hope for no rain. 

Saturday morning my best friend and I went shopping. I got a few Christmas gifts which was exciting. Bath and body works had their candles on sale so I had to buy a few as gifts. They are my fav. Hopefully the people I got them for like them just as much. 

Saturday afternoon I joined C for the last marching band competition of the year. I think we went to about 6 this year, that's a lot of marching band! It was cold and rainy but thankfully we were covered, I felt bad for those kids. It is amazing to see what they accomplish though, there were some awesome shows. 

Sunday morning we had a student farm clean up for FFA. Our chapter is fortunate enough to have an area that the students can keep their animals since most of them don't have space at their houses since they live in town or on neighborhoods. A great group showed up and we did a ton of work. It was stinky and dirty, but we are now ready for all of the animals in a few weeks. 

Sunday night we went to my mom's for dinner. Nothing beats my mom's home cooking and it was great to be able to go over there and hang out. I love my mom and even though we live really close sometimes we get busy and don't get to see each other as often. I'm glad we went over there tonight. 

Another week ahead of us! This one is looking pretty easy so fingers crossed! Happy Monday! 

Linking up with Meghan!

Wedding Wednesday: Wedding Party Pictures

After our first look and pictures with the two of us we felt like we got plenty of pictures and our friends joined us for Wedding Party pictures. It was a lot of fun to see the guys and they were all gushing about how pretty I looked. It was super sweet. 

We started with the typical girls and boys. I didn't have a very good shot with just the girls. I guess getting 6 of us to all look perfect is a struggle. But this one from the side was kinda cool and shows some of their great hairstyles. 

This silly picture is one of my favorites. I love my girls, I love my husband, so much greatness in one silly shot. 

These handsome boys are the best. I am so lucky that he has such great friends and I also consider each one of them my friends as well. 

Me and my best friend/matron of honor. She's the closest thing I have to a sister, best friends since 5th grade. 

 It's all fun and games for the guys. 

We had a blast the whole time we were taking pictures. Our photographers kept us moving and on track with time and we got all of the shots that we needed. Next up was family. I was a little more stressed about this, but those went well too. That meant it was time to go and get hidden, then prepare for the ceremony! 

I'll be back next week for more fun. Linking up with Macy!

Teaching Tuesday: Grading

Grading is probably one of the hardest things about being a teacher. As a secondary teacher, I have 150 students. If they have an assignment every day, that's a lot of papers! Elementary teachers may have less students, but then they are grading all subjects and possibly way more papers. In order to save myself time (and sanity) here are some tips I use for grading more efficiently:

1. Use one paper for multiple assignments. This allows me to look at multiple days of work at one time. It may be more things to look at but sifting through less papers saves me time. My students have daily entry tasks and they put two weeks worth on one paper before I grade it.

2. Grade for completion, not accuracy. Often times on practice work, I don't grade every question for accuracy. If it is something that they can work on with partners, I mostly look for completion because chances are they could have just asked for the answers or copied it. While I think it is important for them to do practice work, the ones who are truly doing the work are getting the benefit and those who aren't will see that reflected on their assessments.

3. Spread out assessments. When I give tests, I try to make sure all of my classes don't take them on the same day. This is something that is harder when you have less different classes, but it's a lot easier to grade tests for half of my students than all of them. I also like being able to give them their tests back pretty quickly so that they can see how they did while it is fresh in their minds.

4. Have students grade their own (or each others) work. I usually only do this on short vocab quizzes but it helps a ton. I put a key on the white board and have them score it based on that. I make sure when I write these that they are multiple choice, true/false, or fill in the blank so that they are easy and don't have much room for interpretation.

5. Have a fun pen. Grading with a special pen always makes it more fun. :)

I do a pretty good job of not bringing grading home and I plan to try and keep it that way. I spend a long time planning and prepping at home, I don't need one more thing to add to that list. Any other teachers out there have some tips for how they stay on top of, or ahead of, their grading?

Hello, November.

I can't believe October is already over, I knew that it would be quick since I was so busy, but it still flew by. 

Now that it's November all that I can think about is CHRISTMAS! It is my favorite holiday by a mile and now I feel like I can start Christmas shopping and putting a little more thought into it since it's not that far away. I have a couple presents already and I don't even feel bad about it. I like spreading out the shopping so I don't feel like I'm spending a ton of money at one time. 

I spent the last week in Kentucky at the National FFA Convention and it was a blast. The best part of these trips is watching these students experience new things and having once in a lifetime experiences. We ate a lot of delicious food, saw some great sights like Churchill Downs and the Louisville Slugger Factory, and got to go to a Maddie and Tae + Jake Owen concert. It was fabulous. 

My goals for this month:

1. Be able to run 3 miles without stopping. (I ran my 5k in October, but it wasn't great and I am running another one in December)

2. Bake pumpkin muffins 

3. Spend more time reading my Bible, make it a daily habit 

Back to reality tomorrow. I'm excited to see all of my students again and get back into the swing of things. Along with counting down to Christmas, I may or may not be counting down to winter break... :)