the girl behind the blog

whew!  I have never done one of these Vlog things before...basically, a video blog...and this one is for a link-up that Erin and Ashley are hosting...


I typically try not to record my voice since I think it sounds ridiculous on tape...maybe in person too...eek!  but this seemed like too much fun not to join in...so here goes!  also, it forced me to take a shower...thanks hurricane for lack of motivation to shower :)

a little about me...and 3 things I can't get through the day without!

also, this was my first and only take...I am a bit of a perfectionist, so if I kept re-doing it...you'd never see it...it was much harder then I thought it would be to get the right angle so my makeup didn't look weird...which I still think it did...but whatever :)  I only have two ends of the house with windows...so the light is always weird...I deal with it, so you can too ;)

link-up here!  (or on either one of their blogs!)

Sandy's aftermath

wow.  what a 72 hours it has been...between the gray and cloudy skies on Sunday to the torrential rains on Monday, to waking up to a basement full of water...I am so ready to be done with all the hurricane/tropical storm madness...

and I know that we got away with so much less than many people, the power only flickered once or twice...I still have heat, and the ability to make myself food and take a shower (oh yeah, I should take a shower...)

also...I have an intact house, car and even though I am so tired of being in the house...perhaps tomorrow I will venture out to get a few groceries, if there are any left in the stores...

 

and just look...how much rain we have gotten!  it's no wonder that I have a small pond in my basement...

and, even though it looks like a nuclear bomb exploded in there, I am making progress organizing my office...a task I have been at for, let's face it, like 4 years...I certainly will be more productive once I know where everything is...I hope!   right now you can't see the floor...as it is covered in lots of little piles- I've been told that people who are creative make piles...so it must be true!



and even though it's only 9pm...I am tucked safely in bed, cats all around me...several blankets on...with yet another day off tomorrow...and tomorrow is Halloween!

cat traps

I stumbled across this photo on Pinterest today...because let's face it...being stuck indoors for 4 days now, I've had plenty of time to search the interwebs for *very* important stuff...

image source

ahh, cats and boxes...if I put one on the floor, there is a cat in it in under 10 seconds...usually Jack, and then I make the awesome joke:

"Hey, it's a JACK in a box"

teehee...crack myself up.




hope everyone is hanging in there from all the hurricane effects...

hurricane-hermiting day 1

whew...almost 24 hours into the rain from Hurricane Sandy, and it is still coming down in buckets!  Right now my dishwasher is running, and I can still hear the rain over the noise...oh sorry, just was informed by the news that it's Tropical Storm Sandy...80mph instead of 92...still scary to me either way...


thankfully I had plenty of food to eat on hand, because roads are shut down except for emergency and police vehicles...along with the airport, and most of the bridges...

I also learned that over 100,000 people in Maryland are without power...so I have to count myself lucky that I still have electricity, and have been able to be productive today...but I am obsessively checking the basement for water, the ceiling for leaks, and the tree out back to make sure it's still standing...

here is a video from earlier today...before the conditions worsened...

and I am facing this natural disaster all alone...well me and the cats...but I keep getting messages from my neighbor down the street...think that B asked him to check in on me since he is away for work...how sweet :D

I made a Font!

out of my handwriting!

using a super awesome ap- iFontMaker.

download it.

it is awesome.

here comes Sandy

well a happy Sunday indeed...aside from the impending doom that is a hurricane, and the unknown of power outages, flooding, and wind damage that come with it...I get the day off tomorrow :)

yes, I do like teaching and going to school, but I was just getting to that "run down" feeling that hits around the end of the first marking period...so the timing is perfect...


that feels weird to say...


and while I hope the power stays on, and that there isn't too much destruction by this hurricane we call Sandy, I am going to do my very best to actually relax and enjoy having an unexpected day off.




now, on to more important things...Halloween costumes.  Yup, I am 30 and still dressing up for Halloween...this year the idea was all B's- he was so enthusiastic about it, I couldn't help but get into it...so we got amazing hats from my BEST team member Cindy, who runs the shop Anime hat mania- make sure you check out her fab work!

here we are as Finn and Fiona from Adventure Time!

and here were our Halloween partners in crime, Mr & Mrs Potato Head :)




now I'm off to make dinner, and tie down the deck furniture, charge all my electronics, and make a pile of ALL the batteries and candles I have...just in case...

photo Saturday

this is not from today...the sky is dark and gray and ominous with the impending hurricane/nor'easter/cold front we have coming in the next few days...nope, this is from a morning last week when I was driving on good old 95 to get to school :)

Friday Funny

this made me laugh out loud last night...

the otter that looks like Tracy Jordan on 30 Rock...

image source

enjoy :)

student work!

yup, it's almost November...so I suppose I should post what my students have been doing in the Art room this year...


I know any veteran teacher will agree with this statement...but year two has been so much better than year one...so much more organization, order, and just productivity...


so in the spirit of that...here are a few of the things my kiddoes have done this year...I am definitely thinking of creating a second blog that would just be for Art teaching related things...but until then...enjoy!!


Pre-K pumpkins

Kindergarten Ghosts

 

1st Grade pumpkin patches

2nd Grade Candy Corn

3rd Grade Starry Night Pumpkin patch

4th Grade Secondary Color Spider Webs

5th Grade Cursive Name Skeletons

 

Do the Time Warp? Okay, let's.

let me preface this post by saying: MY PARENTS ARE AWESOME.


and I never would have turned out to be the awesome person that I am if it weren't for them...


so feel free to send cards, flowers, candies to them to say thanks ;)




in the spirit of Halloween...I made them this awesome video card on JibJab...to the tune of the Time Warp...from one of my Dad's favorite movies...The Rocky Horror Picture Show *starting to see why they are awesome, right?*

if you know our family, you'll know just how amazing this is...I can't figure out how to embed it yet...so just click this link if you need a little (okay a HUGE) laugh :)

fun times at the MAEA

woohoo!  conference!


who has ever said that?  well...I guess there are some situations that conferences can be fun...and this was actually one of them!  even if it meant getting up earlier then I usually would on a Friday- considering it's one of my days off from school each week...but I gladly got up after only 5 hours of sleep...and drove down to the Maryland Art Education Association's fall conference in Silver Spring, to a really nice High School and along with at least 500 other teachers got our Professional Development on!

our keynote speaker was Olivia Gude, and I went to mini workshops on how to get students to create creative visual journals with the Journal Fodder Junkies, and one about how to not feel so alone as the only Art teacher in your building, in a great workshop by the lovely Kristen Dudley- who's blog I already was a follower of!  that and her Pinterest boards...so it was so so nice to put a (real) face- not just a photograph- to her name!

and on top of all of that...the AMAZING work that was posted by students all over the state

not so bad for what was supposed to be a day off :)

North Carolina X3

so this is apparently the year where I go to North Carolina.  a LOT.


for the third time in 4 months I drove down to North Carolina- this time to Charlotte- for my college room mate Kate's wedding...


I guess as you get older driving in the car for multiple hours gets less and less fun...well this drive felt like an eternity...but I was really excited to see everyone, so that counteracted it a bit

 

Friday night we got to see everyone after the rehearsal dinner at a fun restaurant in downtown Charlotte...which was actually in a movie theater!  and as I usually do...I traded shoes with the bride...gave her my flats and took her heels...seriously, am I a great friend, or what?  ;)

Saturday morning I ventured out around my hotel- which was really nice by the way- and found a Target to get some snacks, and picked up lunch at Zaxby's, which is one of B's favorite "in the south only" restaurants...and got ready for the wedding

the reception was at the Mint Museum, also downtown...with an amazing view of the city!

and check out the adorable cake bites!  I had a few of the flavors...okay, I had all of them...maybe more then once...but they were so cute and tiny!  I love this idea so much more then a big cake!  less waste!

thank goodness for my GPS on my phone...I used it more this weekend then anything else!


the only thing I did not enjoy, was my 3am alarm I set to get up on the road and home before the Raven's game on Sunday...and then I got to have lunch with my brother :D


another weekend, flew by...hope it was a good one kiddoes!

friday funny

 

image source

this was too funny not to share...nothing worse then trying to drink orange juice after you brush your teeth!


yay, weekend is here!!!

the perks of part time teaching

okay, so besides the lower salary (which is definitely a bummer) teaching part time- mind you, still servicing an entire school, 370 some students, just in half the time...it gives me time to do my work for grad school, and FINALLY get back to working on new jewelry designs!

so to kick off my productivity...I spent the day with my partner-in-crime Jen of Yummy & Company...got my first hot coffee of the season- salted caramel mocha, yum!- did a little thrift store shopping, and took tons of new product photos...


and made a yummy lunch, and laughed.  A LOT.  :D

and we saw this pretty flower!  it was the perfect day in between days of teaching.

dinner for one

this year, it has felt like I live alone- more than since I actually did...B has been traveling for work a LOT.


seems like he's been away more then he's been home this year, and while I'm sure the home-to-away ratio is not that extreme...this is definitely the first time his travel for work has taken our schedule hostage.


between having to re-route flights to meet me at destinations we were supposed to travel to together, or leaving mid-day from work to an emergency job...the biggest toll is on him, and how tired he is all the time...



being that I am a teacher...travel for work isn't really an option, and I think I'm glad about that...while I love to travel for fun, living out of a suitcase for weeks on end is not my idea of a good time...





so once again, I'm on my own for a few days...just me and the cats...we've got our schedule down pat...but Eddie is always a little angry when it's just me (human-wise)

we already had a mini drama today, when he got his claw stuck in the door hinge...

naturally I took a photo of it...and then I put on the oven mitts to try and free him...much howling and flailing later, he was free, and begging for dinner...disaster averted.




hopefully the rest of our week will be less eventful.

Monday Inspiration

now, the Hokies have had a rough go of it as of late...I honestly still love 'em, and I wouldn't trade my college years for anything...


so maybe this will inspire those who haven't gone to college yet, to make the most of it...and if you're lucky, you'll make some of your best friends there :)


speaking of friends...I get to go to Charlotte this weekend to see one of those friends get married :)  can not wait!!

this girl likes to run?

yup.  ran a 13 minute mile today...well ran/jogged...but it was the fastest I've ever gone...


dare I say I may be becoming a runner?  even thinking of finding a 5k race to run in the spring...




who am I?  I have never in my life enjoyed running...and now I look forward to it...yup, surprised myself!  before I started this new running trend...this was how I felt about it:

image from zazzle.com

not that I think I'll have a 26.2 or even a 13.1 sticker anytime soon...but just the fact that running and I are on good terms makes me feel better...



maybe it's the way I feel healthier now...and that I see improvement...and I've been playing flag football...that was my Saturday afternoon activity...since 7 hours of grad school isn't enough, I tack on an hour of physical activity...


but it's fun- I even get to play quarterback once and a while...



okay, off to plan for tomorrow...happy football Sunday all!

Let's Go O's!

woah, did I say that?


yup, I got caught up in the baseball fever that is Orioles Magic...there is even a song...we spent Friday night watching the game on a big screen outside in Canton...

now they play the Yankees...so I am in quite a position...and probably will have to hide out in my house till the series is over...