Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Music and Motivation


Just a tiny bite from me to you:

This is the song that is entertaining me this week!
I teach middle school… needless to say they all think they are the COOLEST. PERSON. EVER!! I like to catch the 6th grade boys, in particular, off guard by playing some of Mr. Beiber’s music to wrap up our 50 minutes together.

I think the best part of this is when I don’t turn it off, and as a consequence of all of their moaning and groaning I let the songs play all the way through. 

A very accurate image of my classroom royalty!


Not to worry they get a kick out of me showing off some of the awesome moves I do… a good fist pump never hurt anyone! When the “cool boys” in my class start mouthing the words when they think nobody is watching (I CAN SEE ALL!), I die laughing!!

Gah, showing off my Beiber Fever to my class might be a bit strange but they love me and the feeling is definitely mutual!!

A little Beiber lovin' for ya!

Once again I am focused on all things school related at the present time… what can I say teaching is one of those jobs that is hard to separate from everyday life. I am extremely motivated by the kids at my school. It is amazing to see how at such crucial ages and living in such a crazy city, my students are able to work to achieve their goals. I have 2 such students who are extremely hard working. They play competitive club basketball, and as they have told me, they are awesome! (Humble right?!)  I absolutely believe them in these thoughts though, kind and smart with outgoing and generous personalities. Not to worry, I will be sure to get an autograph before the year is done!



Heck, maybe I am teaching the next Larry Bird, or Michael Jordan.. 

Much love,
 

Monday, March 28, 2011

Happy Monday!

Thus we begin another week.
Hope it's a good one for all!

Enjoy a little Monday morning treat!




Cupcakes and glitter,

Friday, March 25, 2011

Welcoming the weekend with open arms

I am sad to say it is my last weekend before it is back to the "Norm".

While I am sad to see my free time shrink, I am very excited to get back to my students, their jokes and all of the love!

Hopefully this weekend we will be lucky enough to finally get some warm beautiful weather...


Unfortunately Las Vegas isn't a beach... but a girl can dream right!



Enjoy a little bit of music to welcome in your weekend:

http://youtu.be/UdcObAQ5OOM

click the link and get down with your bad self!


Thursday, March 24, 2011

A Little Love Sharin'


I plan on sharing my loves on a weekly basis. I am hoping that through my acknowledgment of some of the things that have inspired me most throughout recent days you will become more inspired to do a similar method of reflection.

I am totally loving Spring Break!
Oh the joys of being a teacher! On top of getting to spend my days with the best kids ever, I also benefit from sharing spring break with students! Spring Break couldn’t have come at a better time, I was definitely in need of a small visit home…

This year I decided to surprise my parents by going home without their knowledge… The entire time I was predicting that my mother knew I was coming and it wouldn’t be a surprise at all *Sigh!
My friend Kymbre picked me up from the airport, to take me to my brother’s house for the “surprise”. The surprise went off without a hitch. She. Was. Shocked. This definitely made my first spring break as an educator great! I loved getting to spend time with my family, and getting my fill of green chile and New Mexican food. It is always bittersweet to leave New Mexico and especially my family, but know that it is only a short plane ride back!



One of the things that I am loving right now I purchased on my adventure to Lush at Mandalay Bay.
I purchased an excellent lip care duo:
Bubble Gum Lip Scrub / Honey Trap Lip Balm

I was instantly drawn to the scent of the scrub, and when the two were combined they are simply delectable! If you have never used a scrub on your lips this is a must try/buy… because it is a sugar scrub you simply rub it on (with your fingers and lips) then lick it or wash it off… tastiest things I have ever had the joy of licking off my lips! YUMMY!

Bubble Gum Lip Scrub by LUSH


 
Honey Trap Lip Balm by LUSH

Visitors in Las Vegas! I am always excited to hear from some of my dearest loved ones, especially when they are in town for a couple of nights. Last week I got one such message from one of my mom’s good friends, Jodie. My friend Eryn and I were invited to join her for dinner and didn’t hesitate to say yes (Jodie knows all of the delicious restaurants!).  After dinner we wandered around the gardens at the Bellagio.










 Glittery, Sparkly Love,




Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Gosh... I LOVE an adventure!!


Welcome to Monday…

So let me just say, if my exhaustion today is any indication of how successful my weekend was then it must have been amazing! Boy was it ever!

When my friend, Cassie, invited me to go with her to Phoenix for the weekend I was nervous but said yes all the same. I mean I am not exactly the most enthusiastic sports fan to walk the Earth… However upon getting to the stadium to watch the Milwaukee Brewers play I was thoroughly impressed!! There were people everywhere, the weather was beautiful, and the food and drink options were abundant! How Fun!!! The only unfortunate thing was that I kind of got a little bit sunburned regardless of the fact that I put on sunscreen prior to the game. My knees are especially burned (but only on the front side!).

So after that great time at the baseball game I have come to one conclusion… I must go to another one! :)

Hello Spring Training!


Having to drive back on Sunday was so long and tiring… made much worse by the fact that I had a terrible headache the entire day!  I told one of my friends, Kymbre about my headache and she told me that I needed to eat pumpkin seeds… I had never heard of this curing a headache issue until she told me about it. Let me tell you, this old wives tale works! While pumpkin seeds might be an issue to hunt down, it is well worth the look. I’m not sure if there is a chemical in the seeds or if it was just something that I needed to believe in order to think it worked but all I know is that it did. Certainly wish I had a bag of them for my drive home!

Another thing that definitely helped my headache was the long shower I took. While I am not a fan of washing my hair, I really love it when I do take the time. I recently purchased a gaggle of products from Lush, yes I had to drag my happy hiney down to Mandalay Bay to do so! Because of this adventure I have developed a crazy obsession with using the products I spent my hard earned money on, especially the AMAZING soaps they have. Using the “Love Birds” soap last night was the best decision EVER!

Needless to say my Sunday was a pretty long one… At least I am able to guarantee with complete confidence that next Sunday will be a fantastic one!

Hoping you have an awesome week!
Sarah

Friday, March 11, 2011

How Wonderful!

In light of recent events I began thinking:
Be colorful!

There are many things in my life that I am loving right now:

Hand me down clothes… One of my friends has been losing weight, and because of this she is realizing that a lot of her clothes are no longer fitting her right. She is thoughtful enough to give them to me when she no longer wants them!!! While this might seem insulting, like, “Oh Sarah, you are sooo fat… you must fit into these clothes that are WAY too big for my little body!” But it’s not like that at all, in fact I felt so good to fit into her old clothes and the best accomplishment is when I have realized that some of them have become too big for me now!! Yippee!!

Savings Account Goals.  I have never been a fan of big, national banks. Seeing as I moved far away from home I needed one that would be available wherever I was and therefore, I needed to switch to one (BLEH!!). Once I began working and making a regular salary I began putting money away. See, the cool thing about this bank is that it has an awesome online banking server and has a savings goal spot where you set both a monetary and a time line goal. I LOVE IT!!! It is so fun to watch my money grow and to see what percentage I am at with every deposit! Wow, I am such a nerd!

My students! This week at my school we have been administering the Criterion Reference Test (CRT) to our students grades 3-7. Seeing that I teach 5th grade I have the joy of administering it. I don’t think I have ever been more proud of my students, EVER! They have been working so hard trying to show what they have learned this year, and if the effort is any indication it will be copious amounts of knowledge! Gosh, what wonderful children I am so impressed and inspired by them!


I am sure I will have even more posts like this soon-ish. Hopefully I start getting into a better swing of writing these blogs soon!!

Until then,
Sarah

Prayers going out for All

Hiroshima Castle, Japan
 Woke up this morning to the shocking news that Japan was hit by a tremendous Earthquake.
At this point it is time for us all to start prayting to the God that we follow, and wishing for the best for all of them.

Here's hoping the aftermath of this doesn't hit anybody else too hard.


Will be posting a happier post soon!

Thanks for taking the time to read!
Sarah

Monday, March 7, 2011

Here Goes Nothing...




Welp... Here it is, I have finally decided to take this plunge into the online world of blogging.
I have been reading blogs for such a long time and have finally been so inclined to begin my own, WOW! What a journey I hope this be, and here's hoping that you (whomever you may be!!!) enjoy taking this journey along with me.

Seeing as this is my first post EVER... I think it might be nice of me to update you on my life so here it goes:

I moved 8+ hours away from home in July, to a city I never thought I would live in... LAS VEGAS!




I am currently working in my dream job, as a teacher! I never thought I would be able to come home at the end of each day and feel so mentally and physically exhausted and exhilarated at the same time AH-MAZING!  Not only the fact that I am working a job that can't be helped but taken with me every moment of every day, but I am also working on my Masters Degree... Let me just tell you this is no small feet! It's a pretty unique experience to be the one assigning, grading and directing homework and assignments as well as being the person who is working to get assignments completed on time, actively discussing the readings with my peers and being a contributing group member.
It's a good thing I am a lover of notebooks, lists and my favorite possession.. my Filofax!



TaTa,
Sarah