Numbers & Me

Sooooo it was back to the grind for me this week. Hence the lack of blog posts! I'm sure all my fellow teachers can agree with me out there on just how hard it is to get back in school mode after 2 weeks sans lesson planning and the best part of all...sleeping in! I am a much more fun person when I can stay up past 8 o'clock!


Anyways, a fun game I like to play with my kiddos when we come back from break is Numbers and Me. You think of Numbers that relate to your break and then everyone has to guess what that numbers mean! This year was the best because one of my students said "2" and it meant the number of teachers he missed over break...me and my TA! Music to my ears!


Here are my Numbers & Me selections for this week:


3- The number of reality TV shows I watched this week! Ya'll know I gotta get my trash in, and thanks to my bff DVR, I can go to bed early AND still watch my shows the next day! This week I was loving me some Bachelor, some Biggest Loser, and the king of all shows, some Jersey Shore!!!! I have watched EVERY season of the Bachelor since I saw the finale of the first season, and I know there are haters out there, but I just can't get enough! And Biggest Loser....nothing better to get you motivated to get to the gym! True story, I was not going to work out on Wednesday night (day after it aired) until I watched it. 20 minutes later, my butt was on the treadmill! And, I could not devote enough blog posts to the Jersey Shore! All I'll leave you with is, "It'ssssss Teeeeeeeeee Shirttttt Tiiiiiiiimeeeeeeeeee!!!!" Love it!

2- The number of times I cried while watching said t-v shows. My girl Emily from Charlotte, NC on the bachelor lost the love of her life/fiance in a plane crash, only to find our the following Friday that she was pregnant... when they told her story, I sobbed! And then I went downstairs and hugged Kyle.  And then, would it be possible to make it through an episode of Biggest Loser without cruising through a whole box of tissues. Absolutely not!

 

Emily, my fav. so far!

2- The number of times I "mouth fumbled" at school this week. Yes, I did read the word "b*****" for "batch" this week. And yes, I kept going without even giving my kids a chance to pick up on it (do 3rd graders even know that word?), trying to keep my composure while I knew my TA was cracking up at her desk. I also was giving my spelling test, and one student said that they hadn't heard the word for number 41. I said, "Oh, that's okay friend. The word was someone, S-O-M-E-O-N-E. " I didn't even realized I had spelled it for him until my kids all busted out laughing! The best part is, someone still will have miss-spelled that word!

3- The number of times that I exercised this week! Thanks to my new Kindle, I am LOVING reading on the treadmill! 15 minutes will pass by, and I won't even realize it! And I am so obsessed with the cardio-box class at my gym on Saturdays! Looking forward to making this number even bigger for next week! Hello Zumba on Monday! And, I have to give a shout-out to my amazing hubby, who has been running every day! Our goal is to run a 5-K together when the weather gets nice!

2- The number of times we cooked this week! This is a great number for us! We tried 2 new recipes, and loved them both! And they were so easy to make! The first was Low Fat Velveeta with chicken and broccoli and the second was the Bow Tie Lasagna (with a few modifications to make it healthier) from The Pioneer Woman Cooks blog...both super quick, super easy, and super tasty. My only recommendation would be not cooking them consecutively...we were definitely on pasta overload!

42- The amount of money I've spent this week...on gas! I told ya'll, I am really trying to cut back, which means instead of shopping right now, I'm blogging!


1- The 1 new pair of Ugg boots I'm loving right now! Don't freak out, I ordered these before New Year with my Xmas money! And, the best news...I was able to order a 6 in the Big Kids, and got them for cheaper than the adult ones! Can't wait to debut these next week...especially since they're calling for snow!

20- The number of years I've known my bff, Kristen, who stayed with us one night this week before flying back to Michigan. True story--our mother's met in the hospital giving birth to our brothers, who are born a day apart. Then, we ended up moving in right next door to them when we were 4. We literally grew up living 10 feet away from each other with our very own "cut-through" so our walk to each other's houses could be 15 seconds as opposed to 40. It was SO good to catch up with her face-to-face, and she was such a good sport and tried my black-bean brownies! Needless to say, I was super sad to see her go, and can't wait until she realizes that freezing cold Michigan will never be as good as home!

                                              Kristen (right) & Me (center) at my bday party!

                                           Flash forward 20 years...us at my rehearsal din!

                                           Black Bean Brownies from South Beach Diet cookbook!

New Year, New You

I can't explain it, but I've always gotten giddy when a new year roles around. Thoughts of resolutions, change, and bettering myself fill my mind, and I am in love with the idea of a fresh start! 2011 has some big shoes to fill, so I'll share some of my new years resolutions designed to help make this another fabulous year in the life of Lu!


2011 will be great because I plan to...


1. Shop less and Save more-- This is a serious subject matter for me because I love Love LOVE to shop. The thrill of leaving a store with new clothes, accessories, shoes, you name it is so enticing to me, that I've run into a little problemo--I am running out of closet space! It's bad enough that I have my own walk-in closet separate from Kyle. And that he let me have all the drawers in our dresser AND the drawers under the TV. And that he let me put my coats and outerwear in the guest closet. And that he let me put the storage bins under our bed. And that he let me have the drawers in the guest bedroom. And that we've pretty much bought out Bed Bath and Beyond's space saving supply. And that I pretty much went 2 years without handwashing/dry-cleaning clothes that have piled up in a laundry basket without even missing them. And that I still have clothes in my closet with price tags on. Need I say more? The shopping has got to go! Please say a prayer for me...and Kyle...because his closet is one trip to Loft away from being invaded by moi!


2. Shop for a Church Instead!-- Another touchy subject for me. What happens when a Baptist marries the son of an Episcopalian priest? Their ideas of what they want in a church completely clash! He turns his nose up at the "kibbles and bits" communion served at my church whereas I feel like I'm in an aerobics class with all of the up and down, kneeling, standing, sitting that takes place at his church. I need to feel connected to the preacher's message, and that's not as high on his priority list. The only blessing is that we're not living in our hometowns and at least aren't having to choose between our 2 churches! The good news is that we've agreed on what is most important to us about our future church home...we want a great church family where we can have fellowship with friends! 


3. Focus on a Healthy Lifestyle-- I've given up on the perfect body. I will probably never be a size 2 again. What I'm hoping 2011 will bring about for me is a commitment to my health. As a teacher, I come home most days exhausted. The thought of exercising pains me. The thought of cooking a healthy meal, or cooking period, exhausts me further. But, the thought of the toll it is taking on my body to not do either is worse. I am a very cautious person. I play it safe in almost every area of my life. And, in almost everything I do in my life I succeed because I am a person who will work so hard to achieve a goal. Why this has never carried over to my health is beyond me, but I making this a priority for no other reason than the fact that I want to live a long, healthy and happy life....and the fact that the little shopping that I do plan to do this year will be much more fun if I feel good in the clothes!


4. Put Myself Out There More When it Comes to Making Friends-- I have always had lots of friends growing up because I was always in situations where making friends was easy. Sports teams, clubs, church youth groups in high school...dorms and campus groups in college. But now that I'm in the real world away from my hometown and spend my days with 8 and 9 year olds, I find myself craving that core group of friends that I've always had (who aren't currently living in other cities/states like most of my HS and college friends!). And is it too much to ask for some quality couple friends that Kyle and I can hang out with together!? But, what I've learned from my dear friend, Mojzi, is that to have friends, you have to put yourself out there! She will befriend anyone in a heartbeat, and that's because she is friendly and open to everyone she meets! I am very friendly, but on the shy side at first, so my goal is to work on putting myself out there more! After all, what do I have to lose?


So, there you have it! 4 goals. 4 chances for a better me!


And, I'll leave you with a Funny New Year's Memory...


New Years Day, January 1st 2008. Mom and I did what we do best! Shop! We headed into a cute store called Swoozies and were stoked about all the adorable Xmas decorations on sale! My dear mother picks up a hand made, hand painted, very expensive looking cookie jar and almost drops it. Luckily, it didn't break! That is until she tried to pick up the item beside it and proceeded to knock the cookie jar off. All $89 dollars worth of the cookie jar! Shattered to pieces! She left very concerned about what this could all mean for the rest of her year!