Merry Christmas Y'all!

Wow how time flies! I just realized that I haven't blogged since early fall when we had the house sided. We had a very busy fall. LOTS of football, LOTS of friends, and LOTS of fun! :)

I promised pictures of the house after the siding was finished. So...here they are! :) This fell at a fun time because the house also won first place in our part of town for the Christmas decorations. Several have asked for pictures of that too, so this is both!

A Clemmer family tradition is Christmas Eve on Craig Street! I love having the family (plus Mema, Rodrick, and this year David and his parents) for dinner, church and presents. Here are some pictures from Christmas Eve. My mom took some better pictures, so I will get those from her!

Mema (HeHaw as we call her now) and her fellas!

This year, David and I hosted the work party for Hayes Landscape Management (David's work). It was so fun to have all of his friends over too! The boys fried a HUGE turkey and the girls brought the sides. I didn't take as many pics as I wanted too, but it is hard to host and photograph!

 Hayes Christmas Card

 The boys!

 Some friends, The Ramsey's came as well!

Host and Hostess

I don't have many pictures of Christmas day, but I thought this was a good shot before David left for Laurens. This was taken at mom and dads.

If you can't tell, I have REALLY enjoyed my break! All of the times that I am not posing for a pictures I have been in my pj's. All of my Christmas is down and put away, and I even worked on some lesson plans today! :) So I think I deserve a treat for that right?! It's off to the movies in my favorite jeans for a night time movie marathon...New Year's Eve (already seen it, but going again with my gal pal) AND We Bought a Zoo! Can you say bummin' on Christmas break?!

House Memories

If any of you out there own an older home, you know how frustrating it can be. Something is always wrong. And if nothing is wrong something needs to be fixed or updated. I am having some siding put on the house now, so I thought it would be fun to look back at some old pictures. Wow, do I feel better about how far I have come with this house! I thought my readers would be fun to take a little trip back in time.

I bought my little house (after one walk through) on the phone and by an email contract. My mom actually found it before it went on the market...leave it to CC.  I closed on my house the same day as meet the teacher my first year teaching. (I like to stress myself out apparently). I will never forget being so sick with nerves that morning over meeting my kids, and so sick with nerves that afternoon when I "signed my life away". Dad went with me to the closing, precious love, because I was just a basket case. I was just a little over 22 and hadn't even received my first pay check. This is what the house looked like then (August 2006).

I will never forget "move in weekend". Anything that might have belonged to me at some point, or appeared that it could belong to me was thrown into my tiny little house with only a small walkway between the bedroom, bathroom, and kitchen. LOTS of people helped with the move. My own mama and daddy worked their fingers to the bone, but the two things that stick out in my mind the most vividly was my house warming fern from the Carver family and move in day lunch from the Bentley family. I will never understand what I did to be bless with two amazing "other families", but I am forever grateful! This is just one example.

I put a lot of Tender Lovin' Care into my new little house with in the first few months. Dad and I tackled a small landscaping project one Saturday, I spent my Thanksgiving Break from school that year painting the living room, dining room, bathroom and hallway, I spent way to much money trying to decorate for Christmas, and I added some "homey touches" here and there. Lots of people played a role in helping me build my little house into a home. Furniture came from every which a way and I took any and all help I could get in every way! One of the things that makes my house special to me is the things I was able to use from both of my grandmothers. I have tried to make good use of the things they were willing and able to give so that I will always remember where I came from!

My little house was becoming a home. We started having Christmas Eve dinners here with the my family and Mema. Becca and Mema have even stayed here on Christmas Eve so that I wouldn't have to be here all alone.  I will say that quite a few house parties have taken place on Craig Street as well...all who are guilty should raise your hand how...:)

After the first few years, I decided that some larger "makeovers" needed to be made. I painted the barn out back and landscaped around that area. From "ugly gray" to "barn red"...(sorry about the dark after picture)

So the next big project was the shower remodel. Who's bright idea was it to do that the same week I had my wisdom teeth out?!? It was spring break for mama and me, so Papa came down for the week. Mom and Papa had that bathroom ripped to shreds before I could even get the good drugs.

 Yes, this is DUST on my bathroom wall. My ENTIRE HOUSE looked like this!

God love this sweet man. He worked and worked and worked until he had it exactly right!

Tile (no grout) I am not organized enough to find the after pictures. Sorry!

I SWORE I WOULD NEVER DO ANOTHER PROJECT AS LONG AS I EVER LIVED!!!

And then I did! Using my very own hot pink power tools I put together the inside organizer of my closet.

Only a real woman has hot pink power tools!

One of my bedrooms has been five colors, the master bedroom and bathroom have been painted twice. The kitchen floor has been replaced, I've had two sets of living room and dining room curtains (can you say indecisive?!) More furniture has come and gone from this house than I even knew was possible. I stood on the porch and watched some of my "starter" furniture move on my sister's house in  Newberry.  It was a bitter sweet moment for me. I was so happy to see it going to another good home, but it was so very strange to see it go. Many many many memories have been made in this little house.

I learned long ago to NEVER say NEVER when you own an older home, but I am hoping that this siding project is my last project for a while! Here are the before pictures of the house and the wood. As soon as the siding is finished, I'll post after pictures!

Still left to do....

1. Have the bath tub reglazed.

2. Paint the kitchen.

3. Paint all of the trim inside.

4. Repaint the back porch.

5. Find and refinish a coffee table. (I do have a great project in mind!)

So again I say never say never! I guess you all know what I will be doing with my spare time. In the long run, it is worth it. This house holds a precious six years of my life. If only these walls could talk...

Well this doesn't happen every day...Knight Family Reunion 2011

The Knight Family (which would be my grandmother's side of the family) has a tradition of a yearly family reunion. Yes, I know that doesn't happen much anymore with most families these days, but the Knight family keeps it real ya'll! Love ya mean it, just speakin' the truth here! I wanted to take a moment to reflect on the Knight Family Reunion 2011.

So it all begins around 8am at the Clemmer household. Dad has been deemed the "road captain" for the trip (That means that nobody else gets to drive...eek!), AND, wait for it...we rented our FIRST MINI VAN! That's right, the Clemmer, Penn, Siler clan rolled 6 deep in the mini all the way to Alabama. Yes, Dad was the road captain of the mini! HAHAHAHA! (If you don't know my dad, picture long goatee, tattoos, black Harley shirt, driving a mini with grandma in the front seat, wife and 2 prissy daughters + 1 boyfriend in the back.) So before we could even get out of Fountain Inn, Dad has managed to get the driver display only in kilometers, brayed at the horses on 418 and called himself a "pimp". And yes, that all happened in a 10 mile distance from our home. Lord. Help. Us.  So for the next six hours, this is how we are stuck. I mean talking about about arguing over the radio, whose feet are touching whom, etc. Picture Clark Griswald...BINGO!

When we finally get to Alabama and get all checked in, we make our way to our cabin. Of course it isn't ready for us, so we sweat our BUTTS off while we wait. (Cause it's really hot in Alabama ya'll! We were totally dressed for a South Carolina fall morning, not an Alabama afternoon.) Long story short, after we get all settled (with few arguments over bed arrangements, who will use the bathroom first, you get the idea) Dad and I set off to walk/run. Dad did the walking, I did the running.  I didn't run nearly as far as I did last year, but I just had to get out and do it. This state park has the most beautiful lake with a paved loop and I really enjoyed it last year, so I had to do it again. Plus, it felt WONDERFUL to stretch after getting out the car. After showering up, I took off to hug necks of all my fabulous family. Here is a photo of my favorite "road captain". 

Saturday morning we did more "cabin hopping" until it was time for the family photos. Here is my fav shot of our little family. I wish we had a way to get a whole group picture, because you really should picture this time 7 (the number of my grandmother's siblings). It is quite a sight! 

So the rest of Saturday was spend doing LOTS of eating, story telling with Uncle Ben, a beautiful candle light service for those who are no longer with us, one WILD sister act, and a bonfire complete with boiled peanuts and smores! I really can't even begin to put into words how much this special time with my family means to me each year. We have been doing this reunion since the early 70's, and it just amazes me that we haven't skipped a single year, nor have we stopped this beautiful tradition. I fear that as the weight of this reunion falls on the shoulders of my generation in future years that we will not be as "driven" to get together each year. Every year's reunion has been special to me, but for some reason, this reunion feels like it was the best one we have had in a long time.

Mema knows you are never too old to slide!

Some of my sweet girls.

The grand kids (my cousins).

 My grandmother and her living brothers and sisters.

Uncle Gordon was my buddy for the afternoon on Saturday. We had a blast!

So long story short of this blog is if you don't do a family reunion, you don't know what you are missing! Be the one to organize it the first time. I can promise you that it will be worth it.  

Knight Family....Looking forward to being one of your "hostesses" next year!! :) Uncle Ben, we drew our family tree on the way home, so you should be proud. 

I would love to post lots and lots more pictures, but for some reason my blogger is not cooperating and I still have some school work before Sons of Anarchy comes on at 10. :)

When I Grow Up...

I don't know if anyone else out there enjoys the car ride home from work, but I sure do! It is one of my best "thinking times" (except for in the shower...Yes, I know that is also strange, but I think a lot in the shower). So I was thinking today and here is what I came up with...

When I grow up, I want to be able to cook. Not cook like I do now, (which would be what I like to call fooking, or fake cooking), but REALLY cook. Fooking, or fake cooking, is the only kind of cooking I know how to do. It would consist of dumping a whole bunch of can foods into a crock pot and calling it soup. I can also make a mean spaghetti and a durn good salad. But, I am a southern girl. I need to learn to COOK. You might be asking yourself what on Earth brought this up today?! Well, I will say I did have a peach cobbler for breakfast. Thanks to one of my wonderful students (who proudly presented me with warm cobbler) and her southern mama, it was one of the best cobblers I have ever had. It sure made me miss my Nana! Now that is a woman that can really cook.  I've tried taking some lessons from my Mema over the last year or two as well. Now that woman can really cook, too! The particular lesson I remember wasn't so successful. I bought the wrong kind of pudding, my meringue didn't rise, I didn't layer my shepherd's pie quite right...so I guess I'll leave the cooking to Nana and Mema! My crock pot veggie soup wasn't a bad effort, but it can't hold a candle to the three women mentioned above...

When I grow up, I want to be a strong, determined woman. I know this is random, but at the same time it really isn't. See, I was driving home thinking about this blog post when my sweet mama called. (She is a strong, determined woman, but not the one I am speaking of right now!) She wanted to check on my day and invite me to a little ladies happy hour on her porch. Her dear friend Debbie was joining her on the porch and so I decided to drop on by. If I have ever met a strong, determined woman, it is Debbie. In the last six months, Debbie has proved her strength and determination in recovering from a horrible motorcycle accident. When I got to Mom's, Debbie was helping carry the snacks outside (mind you she hasn't been walking long), she had driven herself to mom's house, and she practically ran to me and give me a hug. Now this is a woman that was in the hospital for over a month and hasn't spent much time out of a wheel chair in the last six months. I just hope that one day I will be as strong and determined as sweet Debbie. It was so wonderful to see her out and about this evening and have some "girl time". If I was able to spend more time with Debbie than I do, I feel like I could learn many valuable lessons from her . Tonight's topics of conversation...1. We don't like girl drama and gossip. 2. We do like our "biker family" and the love, grace, and hospitality that is extended to our "family members" when it is needed. I have many more wonderful things I could say about my  "biker family" and how much I love them, but since this post is about what I want to be when I grow up, I will refrain. (Though being a biker when I grow up doesn't sound like such a bad idea after all...) Thank you, Debbie for reminding me what is important in life! Love you! 

When I grow up, I want to be a hostess. I love a good party, but I will never be able to throw one like my mama. I have also been thinking about this a lot in the last few days. My mama can host a tailgate like nobody's business. Since David and I met, I have been trying to imitate her tailgate hosting skills at the Clemson games, but all I end up getting is tired. My mama can do it all. So I show up tonight to visit...Here is the list of reasons that I want to be her...(Just a few of them! If i listed them all we would be here all night!)

1. Her house is immaculate.

2. She has snacks AND drinks set out.

3. She has her house decorated FLOOR to CEILING with the cutest Halloween stuff ever!

4. She has a drink waiting on me.

5. Her porch is immaculate (candles lit, accent lights and fountain running, music on, cushions out, etc.) 

6. She, herself looks precious!

Perfect hostess in a nutshell....CC!!!

I remember my Nana having this poem framed in her house. I have no idea why I have always liked it, but when we were cleaning out her things when she passed, it was one of the things I wanted. I have kept it pinned on my bulletin board, but have not ever shared it. Since this post is about being strong, determined, a fabulous cook, and a good "hostess with the mostess" it seems like the right time to share this from my Nana. Anyone that knew her can certainly say that I just described her. So I guess what I am trying to say is that when I grow up, I want to be Nana.

"Woman's Sphere"

They talk about a woman's sphere as tho it had a limit:

There's not a place in Earth or Heaven

There's not a task to mankind given

There's not a blessing or a woe,

There's not a whispered yes or no,

here's not a life, or death or birth,

That has a feather's weight of worth, 

Without a woman in it.

You know you were born to be a teacher when...

So this post was inspired by our field trip to Sky Top apple orchard every day. A parent looked at me and said "How do you do this every day?!" Well I realized that it isn't a normal job, but I can't imagine myself doing anything else. In no particular order, here they are!
You know you were born to be a teacher when...
-You can tie shoes, carry on two conversations, and still see what all of the other children are doing. All at the same time.
-You talk to your spouse/significant other like they are 5 (Oops! Sorry Honey!)
-You frequently tell yourself that nobody else has to make these comments at work...(please zip up your pants, do not flick your boogers, put down the banana phone, take your lunch box off of your head, open your eyes when you are walking, etc.)
-You LIVE for blue jeans day. Literally it gets me up on Friday's ya'll.
-Paper cuts do not even phase you, nor do burns from the hot glue gun.
-You can stop the behavior of other people's children in public with "the look". Oops!
-You can go all day without using the bathroom....and forget that you even have to go.
-You sing everything. Literally everything. (It sticks. I still remember songs from elementary school!)
-You can eat your lunch in 10 minutes flat, while opening milk cartons and cleaning up spills.
-You are ready for bed by 8pm on a Friday night. Yeah, all of my friend think I am lame but I just can't keep up!
-You really feel more like a nurse, dentist, mother, seamstress, hairdresser, etc. on any given day. Boy I can fix anything with a safety pin, band aid or a ponytail holder.
-You answer to any kid voice saying mom, teacher, grandma, hey you, excuse me...you get the idea.
-You keep a list of funny things that the children say. (The latest this week is that it is only appropriate to call 911 if a dinosaur is eating your leg off...) You do this just so your friends will be amused with your stories.
-Snot doesn't bother you. We aren't talking typical snot here. We are talking Nickelodeon green slime.
-You hear this ALL the time..."Boy, I just don't know how you do it."
-You kids think you live at school, and they freak when they see you in Target. They give you the look like "What are YOU doing here?!"
-And the number one way you know you were born to be a teacher....
You can ride all the way to Sky Top apple orchard in the very back seat of the bus, not get sick, help the children who are getting sick, and still be smiling by the time you get there.

"Keep your eyes on the road ahead..."

So, as cheesy as it sounds, this post is inspired by my favorite line from the Sons of Anarchy series theme song. To my biker buddies, you will understand the importance of "keeping your eyes on the road ahead". If you have ever ridden a motorcycle (front or back seat) you know this skill is a MUST. It keeps you safe, alert, and up on two wheels. And if you haven't ever ridden a motorcycle, but you see us going down the road kicking, randomly pointing, or waving our hands in the air, we most likely haven't left a biker revival (though it may appear that way). We are signaling to the riders behind us that something dangerous is ahead.

Spending the afternoon on the motorcycle with my "deddy" (that's my dad for all of you northern readers) on Sunday was good for my soul. Have you ever had something in your life that just clears your head? Well I have three of these things...running, dancing and riding. So, since David was playing golf on Sunday, I had "deddy" swing on by on "Big Red" and take me for a spin. (I mustn't fail to mention that dad's friend Robert went with us. Man, I sure love my dad and his friends. Sometimes you just need wise older (in years only, I am not referring to anyone as old)  people in your life for a little guidance. Robert, his wife Krissy and I had a long talk on Monday while fixing up some things at mema's new condo that made me realize how lucky I am to have a "family" full of these wise people to look toward for guidance. Anyway...enough birdwalking.)  Boy I didn't realize how much I needed a little spin on "Big Red" until I was on the back of that bike...It gave me some time to breathe deeply and do some thinking. So before I delve into looking ahead, allow me to look for a moment in the opposite direction.

I've had the absolutely perfect childhood. Everything you could ask for. Loving parents, grandparents, friends and family. Food, clothing, all of the toys, games, new trends a gal could want, a quality education provided for me by my awesome parents...you get the idea. BUT even with all of those things, I have had some difficult things happen to me in my life, particularly in the last 2 years. I mean haven't we all felt like that?! And I didn't realize it until recently, but I was letting those things hold me down. Not in the physical sense...I was still active, appeared happy, had my friends, yada, yada. But I didn't realize how I was allowing it to suck out my mental energy! And I literally mean drain me dry. It wasn't until that afternoon ride, my chat with Robert and Krissy, and my time with my dad that I realized that I had let all of these crappy thoughts take over my brain. So what's a girl to do about that? Well, I working on willing them away! And that's where we get to the "road ahead" part...

I have decided to turn over a new leaf. Instead of allowing the frustrating things from my past to suck out all of my mental energy, I am going to look ahead. Why shouldn't I?! I am only 27 and I have the rest of my life to work on changing the way I look the things life hands me. I have the most wonderful boyfriend, a loving family, and a job that I honestly can't wait to get to when I wake up each morning. I've also recently realized the power of true friendship. You know, the kind that is almost close like family? Yea, that's a hard lesson to learn, but when you find those friends it is such a blessing!

 So here is where you come in. If you are reading this, you more than likely are someone special in my life, and I need your help. Remember at the beginning of this post when I was talking about signaling to the riders behind you? Well I need some "signalers" to warn me of danger. If you see me allowing my energy to be sucked dry by negative thoughts, say to me "KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE ROAD AHEAD!"

Now, I am no fool. I am still going to have bad days. I will still get frustrated with my family, friends, job, finances, etc. I am in no way taking a Pollyanna approach to my life, but I am just making an effort to change the way I look at these things once the storm has passed. I am not sure why I felt compelled to share all of this, but I hope that some of you "signalers" reading this out there will help me stay focused.

On that note, allow me to share some of my other favorite lyrics from the Sons of Anarchy theme song, This Life by Curtice Stingers.

This life is short, baby that's a fact.
Better live it right, you ain't coming back.

Gotta live this life.
Gotta look this world in the eye,
Gotta live this life, 'till you die
You better have soul, nothing less.
Don't lose your head when the deal goes down,

Better keep your eyes on the road ahead.

Gotta live this life,

Gotta look this world in the eye.

Gotta live this life until you die.

Thanks for reading. And I honestly mean it..calling all of my "signalers" out there...

P.S. I realize these photos have NOTHING to do with this post, but it has been so long since I have blogged that I wanted to share them. They are from the Clemson vs. Troy tailgate.

Now doesn't that just look like pure trouble?! 

Thanks Nolan and Carrie for inviting us! We had a blast! :)

Ashley's Ponytail

I realize that this might seem like a very odd thing to blog about, but isn't that the point of a blog? To just talk about whatever you want?! So today it is going to be my hair!

I got the title for this blog from this really cute children's book called "Stephanie's Ponytail". The book is about how much Stephanie loved her ponytail, but she didn't love the fact that her classmates were copying her. Every day she would wear her hair to school a different way and the next day the whole class (even the teacher) would have copied her creative ponytail style. Well, I got the idea to blog about this as I was running tonight and for the first time in YEARS I felt my ponytail swinging! It was such a strange feeling, but let me just say... I LOVE MY PONYTAIL! I thought it would be fun to take a little trip through my many hairstyles over the last couple of years. Now if you want to copy my hairstyles, that is fine with me. Unlike Stephanie, I will not be upset, but you should probably go ahead and make friends with your hairdresser because I can never make up my mind about my style. Until now at least...

This is probably the longest (and "blondest", if that is a word) that my hair has ever been...

And then it turned into this wonderful long curly look...(do you sense the sarcasm here?!)

 And then I got bored with the long look, so it went to this short look.

And then I got bored with the blonde and it went to a brownish redish color...

 And for those of you that call yourself my friend...YOU ARE WRONG FOR THAT. Why did nobody tell me that my hair looked like it was on FIRE?! Thank you mother for trying and eventually talking me out of this!

And this brings us to the longest most grueling part of the story...the growing out process. I have successfully gone from that spectacular style (HA!) in the above picture to a much different color with a longer style in less than a year. I have wanted to cut it SO many times, but thank you Emma (my fab hairdresser) for not allowing me to! I am just like Stephanie! I love my ponytail! :)  For now....but I do have a hair appointment tomorrow. Who knows what will happen when I get in that chair!?

I Believe...

The idea for this post came from one of my blog gal friends, Sally. She has done this several times and I always thought it was so neat! Now that I have a blog of my own, I thought I would give it a whirl...(Check out Sally's blog...http://exploitsofamilitarymama.com) 


Here they are..
**Just a disclaimer...these are in no certain order, with the exception of God being on top, of course.**


I BELIEVE...


in God.


that family is one of the strongest bonds there is. 
No matter how mad I am at them or what we may have done to hurt each other, I know that they will always ALWAYS be there for me.


that having a sister is an irreplaceable relationship.


that you shouldn't underestimate the power of girlfriends. They can't replace a sister, but they can come pretty darn close.


in flowers. Nothing says I love you like a vase of flowers. Even if they are handpicked. Sometimes the "recess flowers" from my kids are better than any flowers that could ever be bought.

I BELIEVE...


in strong coffee and white wine.


that sometimes you have to sing into your hairbrush and dance in front of a mirror. 


that cleaning house can only be done to really loud music. 


in driving with the windows down.


I BELIEVE...


that it is ok to still sleep with your baby blanket.


a bubble bath and a good book is the best way to end a long day.


Dave Matthews is the most talented musician I've ever heard.


I BELIEVE...


that being a 27 year old daddy's girl is normal.


that needing your mom at 27 is just as normal.


that I'm a princess...(I'm really only kidding, but if you know me, you know that I do often refer to myself as a princess. This may be the result of being a 27 year old daddy's girl. But if I'm the princess, that makes my mama the queen and I've never heard complaints from her in that department.)


I BELIEVE...


that children are our future.


that I was BORN to be a teacher.


that no matter how much I love my job or "my kids", it is ok to watch the news religiously at the threat of snow. Nobody loves a snow day like I do! (Unless your name is Betsy Thompson and you have 4 seasons of Grey's Anatomy on hand.)


I BELIEVE...


mountains can be healing.


so can oceans.


it's ok to say your are sorry.


and sometimes you can say your are sorry and still stand your ground.


I BELIEVE...


in a sad movie just because you are in the mood to cry.


crying is healthy.


I BELIEVE...


relationships can be mended.


some aren't meant to be.


new ones are sometimes worth the wait.


I BELIEVE...


Funfetti cupcakes make me a much nicer person.


laughing until you cry and your stomach hurts is healthy.


in sleep.


And on that note, I am off to bed. Please share what you believe in this week...

Thursday is ALMOST THERE!

Wow! I can't believe I have almost made it through the first week back. I am EXHAUSTED, and I don't remember ever putting this much work into a back to school year, ever. It is 10:16 and literally the ONLY thing I have done today that didn't have anything to do with school is shower. I got up, made it to school early (for me). I am NOT a morning gal, so for me to be there by 7:15 is a miracle! We had an AWESOME second day, so all of the hard work is worth it. If you want to hear all about that, check my school blog. msclemmerskids.blogspot.com  It should be up sometime over the weekend! After school, I decided to stay and get some work done. One of my teacher friends and I were going to meet some of our kids at Sonic for eat out night, so it really wasn't worth going home! We got to Sonic right at 6 and I ate dinner with 4 of my new kiddos! SUPER SWEET! It was so much fun!

I came home and jumped into my cozy PJ's and I JUST finished doing school work. I am really excited about day 3 and all of the fun things that are planned! :) Stay tuned for that update over the weekend too. For now, I am super pumped that I get to wear jeans to work tomorrow, and that it is finally time to hit the hay! Phew!

By the way, if you haven't heard my Friday song, you don't understand the title of this post. A few of you lucky ones may just know my special Friday song. If you don't, then I'll be GLAD to sing it to you sometime! :) Friday is my favorite day!

"Eat, Drink, and be 'Ready'"

Well if you know me, you know I am a huge Dave Matthews Band fan! :) ...like to the point of having the "fire dancer" tattoo! So the title for this post is taken from one of my favorite DMB songs, Tripping Billies!

 It has been  crazy few days. Meet the teacher was Friday night, so last week was spent frantically getting my classroom ready, as in literally haven't left school before 6pm any day last week. But come Friday afternoon, I left to come home early and get ready to go back Friday evening to meet my kiddos, and it felt like it was finally "READY".

My weekend was spent Relaxing with a "big R." I mean I "foreal" did nothing! (unless you think watching endless episodes of Reba counts as doing something.) Come Monday, I was anxious to get to work because I still felt like I had so much to get done. However, I was car-less, so I had to wait on  my Deddy to pick me up to go get my snazzy rental. And let me just say, my Deddy is the best. I mean he carried my market tote and polka dot 31 lunch box across the parking lot of the Fountain Inn Bi-lo to help me load up my rental. How awesome is he?! Even the rental car man suppressed his chuckle as he saw my dad approaching with arm loads of hot pink polka dots. So I was a tad later getting to work on Monday than I wanted, but all was well. Monday and Tuesday were spent doing last minute things in my classroom before Wednesday.

So now we are caught up to the present. Let's start with EAT. Even though I was a little cranky (and possibly picked a fight...anyone ever done that when super stressed topped off with PMS?!), David and I went to the grocery store together. Isn't that romantical!? We decided on the fail safe spaghetti for the meal "we" (HE) would cook to get my tummy ready for an early bed time. That sweet man cooked my dinner, (served it up on my plate and everything!) Love him! So my tummy is full with yummy spaghetti with an oatmeal cream pie dessert. Thanks, honey!

That leaves us with DRINK! Need I say more?! Haha, just kidding. Use your imagination here people. It is the night before the first day of school. I always get nervous and have butterflies. I haven't slept well in weeks. It was wine or Nyquil. I chose the wine!

...and BE READY. I feel almost ready. I could have stayed at school all night long and not felt completely ready, but I think I am as ready as I will ever be. Morning work is already out on the tables, pencils are sharpened, room is organized, plans are done, etc. I am sure 9,030,929,940,328 things will pop up tomorrow that I didn't think of yet, but they pay me the big bucks to think on my feel, right? (cue crickets). Oh, they don't pay me the big bucks to think of everything that could go wrong, ward it off, prepare for it, have a plan B, C, D, E, and Z, and do it all with a smile on my face?!?? Oh! Well then...

I suppose I should go pretend to sleep now. I am sure that instead of actually sleeping, I will get all cozy in my PJ's, settle in with my favorite book, and then toss and turn all night long. The start of the school year always makes me SO nervous.

I am so ready to have my kids all to myself tomorrow. Meet the teacher is always so crazy that I don't really get to spend any time with them. Tomorrow is the day that I will start getting to know these little people that mean so much to me. They will become like my family. We will laugh together, cry together (yes, if you know me you know I do that so well), share stories, and LEARN together. Tomorrow marks the beginning of a journey for me as well as for the children. When I first started teaching, I thought it was all I would ever want to do. More than once I hit the point where I just thought I couldn't do it any more. Long story short, teaching isn't an easy job. Life isn't an easy job either. And when both get really hard at the same time it is super difficult not to just lay down and cry. BUT the good news is God puts people in our lives when we need them. My dearest friend Betsy was the first of many people that encouraged me not to quit. Not to quit teaching and not to quit loving life. Betsy was one of the first people to show me that my hardened heart could still teach and it could still love.  I am so thankful God has put Betsy, as well as students, parents and other teachers in my path to teach me that teaching and loving it is what I am born to do. And for the many people that have been with me over this 5 year journey I call teaching, and this 27 year journey I call life, thank you. You have not let me stop smiling, even with both of these jobs were almost too much to bear. As my mama always said, "When the going gets tough, the tough get going." Bring in on. I am ready! Happy 2011-2012 school year!

The beauty of an empty trunk...

I'm sure this is a strange post, but here goes anyway...

Has anyone else in blog world every felt that sense of accomplishment of a fresh smelling clean house, a folded/put away load of laundry, or a newly mowed lawn? Well I got that sense of accomplishment today when I popped open the empty trunk to my rental vehicle. (Which is a BRIGHT RED Camry might I add. Remember when I said that maybe I would get something sassy? Well the rental man hit the nail on the head!) So if you know me, you know that I LIVE out of my car. Well I FINALLY cleaned out every part of my car for it to go to the body shop, and it felt GREAT! It is the one thing in my life I do not try to organize. So I guess the purpose of this post is to update you on my recent accomplishments (in addition to cleaning out my car!)

I've finally FINALLY finally finished my classroom. It is perfectly complete with all of the touches that I wanted it to have. I have put blood, sweat and tears into my room this year, but it is officially FINISHED! (Complete with potted tropical trees adorned with Panda's climbing out of them.) I had a really rough school year (due to my personal life) last year, so I made a pact with myself to make my classroom somewhere that I could enjoy being this year. And I think I've done it. I put the finishing touches on it this morning. (Pictures to follow.)

My house is coming together (Yay!). It's been a long time coming, but I think I am finally getting vinyl siding. Now I just have to make a color choice. Opening the floor to suggestions.

I feel a great sense of accomplishment when I get things done around here, so 5 loads of laundry later, I feel like I did something! 

I've been SO so SO busy and have stayed at school LATE late LATE every night last week, so that is why my blogs have been slacking off. AND I just burned the green beans because I was blogging and cutting out things I laminated, so I suppose it is time for me to go take care of that. But until next time, cheers to empty trunks everywhere!

DESSERTS

Wow! I can't even begin to describe how BUSY today was. Being my first day back I am EXHAUSTED and it is already passed my self-designated bedtime. (I'm already not doing well with that this year!) So my blog tonight will be short and sweet...

We had a wonderful inservice today and I just wanted to share with you a thought that I hope will stick with me this year...Stressed spelled backwards is Desserts...and even when you go through hard things (stress) in life, there will always be dessert somewhere in it. Though it may be hard for us to see at the time, and we may never be able to look back on our hard and stressful times and see the good, I firmly believe God puts the good there for us. It's all a matter of perspective and how we choose to see things. So with that being said, let me give you a rundown on my first day back.

STRESS:
My Keurig breaks on  my way out the door as I am making my coffee this morning. Now if you truly know me, you know this is BAD. I mean I have literally had kids in my class shush each other when I come in sans coffee cup. B.A.D.
DESSERT:
I was up in time to go by Dunkin Doughnuts. LOVE. And the Keurig people were so nice on the phone. I already have another in the mail and I got to demolish the old one and send back the broken parts...fun?! I think so!

STRESS:
Long, LONG, Long meeting in which I really learned a lot, but it was VERY hard to focus with my mounding to do list.
DESSERT:
Wonderful inservice! Learned so much that I think will help me be a much better and less stressed teacher this year.

STRESS:
Waiting on rosters and state debit cards before I can finish some things in my classroom.
DESSERT:
Maybe my sister will get to come help me tomorrow, and I wouldn't have thought to ask her if I wasn't so stressed. And I am super excited about my roster. I can't tell you who is in my class yet, but I have a great feeling about this year!

STRESS:
Insurance men who don't do what they say they are going to! (For those of you who don't know this, we got into a wreck on the way home from the beach. Craziest thing I have ever seen. EVER. Luckily everyone was ok, and I am not having to pay a dime to get my car fixed, BUT I still wish the insurance man wasn't a poop.
DESSERT:
We have a wonderful friend that owns a body shop that is going to fix my car. So hassle free! He was so quick to get a quote and have it all taken care of and I am SO THANKFUL! AND maybe, just maybe I'll get a really sporty hip rental car.

So with all this said, remember that stressed spelled backwards is desserts. Always take time to look for the dessert in your stressful moments. And as my wise mother, lovingly known to many as CC says, It is what it is, but it will become what you make it.

One last BIG DESSERT! I am blessed with the sweetest boyfriend EVER! I was so stressed about my day and I came home looking quite frazzled. So my sweet man loads me up in the car, takes me to Chick-Fil-A (a fav for me), a little shopping at Knickerbockers, AND a trip to Yogurt Mountain. Love him!   So all in all, a little stress in my day wasn't anything that a little dessert couldn't fix!

Well I promised a summer reflection, so here it is! :) I haven't had a summer like this in a LONG time...ok, I haven't EVER had a summer like this.  I didn't take a single teaching workshop, participate in a graduate school class, or work much at  all this summer. (I can't say I didn't work, because I did a few dance camps at the Y, but they were more fun than work!) It has been the most fabulously relaxing summer of my life. I must say, I was feeling the teacher burn out. BUT I have been working in my classroom for a couple of weeks now and I am more excited than ever to go back. I feel armed with fresh ideas and ready to meet my sweet little darlings. I did take some pictures of my classroom today, but you will just have to wait for those because this post is all about my super summer. So kick back with your beverage of choice (mine as of now is a Margarita!) and relax with me as I reflect on my favorite moments of summer! :)

So this wasn't really this summer, but I'm counting it anyway! My sweet little family of 3 traveled to Newberry to see the 4th and had so much fun at Poor Richards! Love!

All of these pictures were taken on the porch of my beloved Craig Street house! Betsy's boyfriend came to spend the weekend and this was our last weekend as the Craig Street gang of four! Such a fun gathering! 

I don't have any pictures of our beach trip with my family because my mama took them all. Check those out on Facebook! 

All of these pictures were taken on the beautiful Kiawah Island. David so rarely gets to take time off work, but we spend a whole week together! It was so much fun. We stayed the first part of the week with his mom and dad in a condo on Kiawah. As you can tell. we rode bikes (and that phrase "It's just like riding a bike" Yea, thats a LIE! I almost wrecked multiple times), soaked in the sun, visited the Ocean Course, and yes, even did the joggling board.

Then we headed off to spend some time in Myrtle Beach with David's brother Matty and his wife Brantley. SO. MUCH. FUN! Matty qualified for the Carolina Amateur Golf Tournament, so you can imagine that while the boys were golfing, the girls were shopping! :) We stayed in a hotel right at Broadway at the beach so when the boys were finished golfing we would wine and dine with the best of them!

 Matty and I were brave and rode the swings. 

 Matty and the caddy, David.

 Some much needed girl time took place that week!

LOVE

This last pictures was from the week of Under the Sea Dance Camp that I taught with my fabulous mother at the YMCA. We had 6 kiddos and every moment was so much fun. Here we are singing baby shark! 

So I am off to cook some dinner, try to relax and get some sleep before the first day of school, and hey, maybe I'll even blog some pictures of my classroom! 

Love ya, Mean it!