one year.

still doesn't really feel real.


we still miss you.  and always will.

a pretty pink treasury

featured in this lovely treasury on Etsy today :)

12.12.12

gotta love numerology, even numbers, repeating numbers.


yup, that's the OCD in me coming out hard core :)




but, did you know, that today, 12.12.12. is the last time in our lifetimes that we will see a date like this?  in case you missed 01.01.01 or 02.02.02 or 03.03.03...04.04.04...05.05.05....06.06.06  the ever popular wedding date of 07.07.07...or 08.08.08, 09.09.09, 10.10.10, or 11.11.11...

make sure today you hand write the date on something.

you'll be glad you did.


or you aren't crazy like me and you don't care.

either way...happy 12.12.12!




only 13 days till Christmas!  ahhhhhhh!

coming up on 31...

one month from today is my birthday.  31.  not quite as exciting as 30...and 10 years since that big 21st birthday.


sigh.


I used to get really excited about my birthday...to the point of annoyance to everyone around me...this year I'm not *not* excited...but I am not going to count down the days like usual...


so what did I do on this 12.11.12?  it was one of my days off from teaching, and for the first time since August, I didn't have homework for grad school, or a jewelry show to prep for...


so I cleaned.


and did laundry.


and cooked an actual meal.


and got myself set up to mail out our chrismas cards.


I thought it would be fun to show the card we went with...and then the photo that was the runner up :)

and just for fun, this was the other photo I had in mind...

also, there have been about 20 days this year that B and I have been in the same state...so choosing a picture wasn't as easy as usual.

we should not be allowed in the kitchen.

I love holiday desserts...cookies, lots of cookies...cakes and pies...I love to eat them.

make them.  not so much.  I usually end up making a mess- turning the mixer on high with a bunch of flour in it, forgetting to add the baking soda, spilling my wine...three times...


oh wait.  that all happened yesterday.


in our first annual cookie baking day, Nicole, Maureen and I destroyed Nicole's kitchen...spilled a few too many things, used a wine bottle as a rolling pin, and ate half the things we made...


some things were made correctly...sometimes we turned the oven off without knowing it...


but a good time was had by all.  and that's really the important thing, right?

all the while, we had three dogs circling our feet, hoping we'd keep up our drop happy routine.


that being said...very excited to see what my Mom has baked up for Christmas...I know it will be better than what we came up with ;)

one semester down!

whew!  today I turned in my massive 48-page unit plan for my Art Methods class...and took my final exam for Content Area Reading...no class for 3 weeks is my present for all my hard work :)


I have to say, I wasn't sure I'd make it to this point...it's been a lot of work, and I definitely have felt the exhaustion directly related to it...but it's all good things on the way to getting my certification nailed down...and eventually a Master's degree :)



I unfortunately failed miserably at taking a victory nap today...but I did just lay down for an hour, so at least I gave myself some actual relaxation time.




so now it's just two weeks of school left before winter break.


and it's been one month since Brett has been home.



I need these holidays to get here more than ever this year!



even Eddie agrees...he's been hanging out with me, which NEVER happens...so we know he really misses that guy who lives here too...

happy weekend all!!

grad school coma

Saturday, 8:30am...first final project is turned in.


Saturday, 12 noon...final test taken.


by 3pm on Saturday I'll officially be two classes into my certification/masters program.  but until then, I will be typing, reading, editing, retyping, and obsessing over my final unit plan that I have to turn in.

the cats are doing their best to help motivate me...

in case you were wondering, these are two different times...top one is Jack, bottom one is Kevin...



when I was in college, I think I might have pulled one all-nighter.  I am not good at working late hours into the night.  so here it is, 9:30, and I'm calling it a night.


but I'll be up by 7am, partly because I can't sleep in that much anymore, and partly because I'll be panicking that I haven't left myself enough time to finish my work...but...I have 6 of the 9 sections totally done, typed up, printed out, just ready to put into the page protectors in my binder.



so until 3pm on Saturday...I might be a little distracted...which means I might write a few more blog posts when I am procrastinating tomorrow...



I'll leave you with a cute penguin one of my 1st graders drew this week :)  more art coming...we are doing lots of cute winter projects!!

I'm back!

I did my first craft show since last December!

woot!

I forgot how much I loved getting out there and selling jewelry!  thanks to everyone who came out...I think I stressed myself out way too much...but the good news, is that I'm all set for spring shows!

student art from November

man, it takes FOREVER to get the photos taken and organized from my students work...I feel like I've gotten myself pretty organized in other aspects of my teaching...and last year I hardly took any photos until I realized how important it was to document the work that my students were making...so for now, I just have lots of files on my computer, waiting to be sorted into folders, and uploaded to my ArtSonia site (one of these days)...


but here is some of the awesome things my kiddos did before Thanksgiving break...

Pre-K made hand turkeys :)

Kindergarten made a mixed media turkey with the feathers as handprints


1st Grade made "Save a Turkey" posters- 4th grade did too...I like seeing the difference in the grades :)

2nd and 3rd Grades made Turkeys with patterned feathers

and 5th grade had trouble finishing their work...so I'll get those up when I can :)





 since not all classes met last week, I had some "extra" quick projects...Pre-K and K made fall trees- ask any one of those kids what the fall colors are...and they can tell you :)

and then the older kids made these owl pictures- they LOVED them!  keeping that kind of activity in my back pocket for days when classes come late or schedules get messy with testing...it's nice to know I have some things the kids really like to do...

just like the Day of the Dead skulls- another big winner with the kids...here are a few of my favorites from that activity

I also had a day when a bunch of classes were late in arriving and being picked up because of meetings happening in the building...so I threw this idea together after searching on Pinterest while I waited for the students to arrive...they made positive word "explosions"...thought these turned out really cool!

now we are into winter art...so stay tuned for that...maybe it will be up by January ;)

Happy Birthday, Charlie Brown!

well...not Charlie Brown exactly, but Monday the 26th would have been Charles Schulz's 90th birthday if he was still alive...and since one of my favorite movies- not just holiday, but movies in general...A Charlie Brown Christmas was on...for the first of many watchings between now and December 25th, I thought I'd write a little bit about him :)

All info and photos were found in this article on the Huffington Post online :)



Did you know...

Schulz was drafted into the Army during WWI?

The original name for the Peanuts gang was Lil' Folks?  I like Peanuts a LOT better

although...Schulz did not ever like the name!

Some of the characters, like Linus and Shermy were named after friends of Schulz...and the "little red haired girl" was real!  She was someone he dated, but she turned down his proposal...silly girl!

Network execs wanted the cartoon to have a laugh track...that would have just ruined it!  so glad that never happened!

In his lifetime, Schulz created 17,897 Peanuts comic strips...impressive!

so there ya go!  a few days belated birthday to one of my favorite people!

make a difference...Isaac strong

a lot of the time I hear stories of people who are suffering with illnesses, and I always feel so helpless, I wish I could do something.

then there are amazing people, like Erin who can rally the troops, and find a way to get donations to help out Isaac's family, the little boy, who at only 6 years old, is a cancer survivor, and unfortunately, battling it again.

even though we can't actually change what is happening, or stop the pain that that terrible monster cancer causes to the people who have it, or their families, every little bit will help, to get Christmas gifts for Isaac and his two brothers, gas money to and from the hospital, and having meals delivered to the family when they are home.

check out Erin's post to see all the people who are involved, because you can just make a donation, or you can purchase things from people's shops, mine included, who are donating a portion of sales to the family.

Monday Inspiration...and a sad Packers Fan

this is not a new video...but after last night's game, I thought it would be fun to share :)




nice win for the G-Mennnnnnnnnn!!

 

friends don't let friends go to UVA

 image source

whew.  that was a close one.  we just squeaked out a victory yesterday.  and as a Tech fan, it really is one of our most important games of the year...especially in a year when we haven't had much else to cheer for.


love my Hokies :)

photo saturday

this one's a two-fer!

 of course the obligatory "hanging the christmas lights" photo

and this is what is left of the tree and the sidewalk outside my aunt and uncles house after the hurricane...eek!

friday funny

always.  unicorns rock.

ready. set. SHOP!

how is it possible that it is the Christmas season already!?


don't get me wrong.  I <3 HEART <3 Christmas an unhealthy amount.  but I just did not see it coming this year.



I do feel prepared in one way however, in my Etsy shop.


and from now until Monday at midnight...you can get 20% off your total purchase, as well as FREE shipping!

so what are you waiting for?  get over there and get some sparkle for the holidays!!

thankful.

it has been a rough 12 months...losing people I loved, working jobs that tested my patience and faith in humanity, not to mention taking courses to get certified all the while...


but in the midst of it all, I have tried to stay positive and today most of all, think of the things that I have or have experienced that I can be thankful for...


my family...my crazy, silly, supportive family

my cousins :)  and our penguin sippy cups...because we are adults

my guy :)  especially since he's been away for work more than he's been home this year

my furry babies...they make me smile every day

even Eddie

my friends.  there are too many people who's pictures should follow this statement...but I'll just put it out there to anyone who has been there for me...I appreciate every cup of coffee, glass of wine, laugh-so-hard-I-cried hangout...I have so many different people in my life who are special for their own reasons...work friends, gym friends, friends I've had my whole life...friends I just met...blog friends...thank you all for being you :)

my job...getting to work with kids every day to bring a little creativity to their school days...listening to the funny things they say, and seeing the joy in their eyes when they finally "get" it...

my customers...I love when my email shows a sale pop up....because I get to share my sparkle with the world :)

I'm sure there are more...but I'm going to go finish this apple pie :)

this is what happens when I'm Home Alone...

so it's been over two weeks that I've been home, unsupervised.


which leads me to our next topic of discussion...moving furniture around.  always a good idea to do by yourself...especially when there is about one way that the furniture fits in your teeny tiny house.

it might not look very different, but I feel like it makes the room look a lot bigger..and it was done just in time for a lovely girls night with Nicole :)

wine, cheese and crackers, veggies and dip and chocolate and fruit.  perfect dinner if you ask me :)

pity party of 1

yup.  I'm going to complain today.


and I'm using my free period at school to do it.



so it must be really bad.


between the not feeling great, the mounds of work I have between teaching, grad school and getting my shop holiday-ready.   I just dropped my phone.


smashed the crap out of the screen.


it still works, but it makes a crunching sound every time I touch it.





so I'm a very sad face over here...just when I think I'll be fine with my bills...something like this happens...and I am back to paying for stuff with change...


a full time teaching gig next year is a MUST.



okay, enough complaining...time to call everywhere I can think of to see how much they'll be taking from me to fix my phone.


hope you are all having a better day than that...and no more sad posts, promise.

Monday Inspiration

it's gonna take a lot of determination to get through this week...and I only have one and a half days of teaching to get through...but between not feeling great, and lots of work to do before the black friday/cyber monday sales, I need a pep talk.

Happy Monday all- hope it's a nice short week for everyone :)