New York State of Mind

Sam and I are planning a trip to New York this summer! I absolutely cannot wait! I mean I get to spend time in the city I love more than anything with my best friend. What could be better? I am so excited that I am already looking into how much plane tickets will cost and all of that. I will be honest and say she is probably going to have to drag me onto the plane home. I know I wont want to leave!

Need A Little Cheering Up

Since all of you that read this are my good friends, you probably know that I have been incredibly down in the dumps lately. I have had a seriously life change that I do not wish to post for all of the internet world to read about, but it has left me sad, confused, sleepy and more than a little depressed. I am incredibly blessed to have some amazing friends that continually call, text or drive all the way from Arkansas to cheer me up. Sometimes though, I do not have people around me to cheer me up. This is when I consult my 2 favorite websites.
www.textsfromlastnight.com and www.fmylife.com. Everytime I read these I absolutely crack up. I cant help it. So my advice to those in sad or upset moods, these really will make you laugh. They are not always very tasteful and sometimes I cringe, but the good ones are worth the reading. I will leave you with my favorite fml post:

"Today, I woke up and looked in the mirror and noticed that my face was covered in glitter. I asked my wife about it and she said she put it on me while I was sleeping so that I would sparkle like Edward from Twilight when I'm in the sunlight. FML"

Sleep

I haven't been sleeping very well. For the last week, I've only been sleeping a couple of hours before waking up. Then it takes me anywhere from 10 to 45 minutes to fall back asleep again. I have been having bad/strange dreams, and my sleep has been so incredibly restless. I am truly praying for a little relief this week. I can feel myself fading and I can see the stress in my eyes. This week has already been so horrible, and to add in not sleeping is just not ok. Please pray that sleep finds me again.

Mood Matching Weather

Have you ever noticed that when you are in a horrible mood, the weather likes to match it and just make you feel that much worse? Thank goodness even though it was freezing, it was sunny today or I might have been even more depressed.

If It Kills Me

Thanks to a request from a fellow blogger, I thought I would post my favorite So You Think You Can Dance routine of season 5. I can not even begin to tell you how excited I was to see this routine performed live. The song is "If It Kills Me" by Jason Mraz and has become one of my favorites. The Choreography was done by Travis Wall, the second place finalist in season 2. It is truly a beautiful dance and I know that people that love dance will enjoy it as much as I do.

The Joy of Weekends

I love teaching with all of my heart, but sometimes it is a stressful/tiring job. I go home some evenings and feel like I have absolutely no energy to do anything. It makes me a bit of a bum sometimes. Hence the reason I appreciate weekends so much now. Before weekends were not a big deal because I had random days throughout the week off too. Weekends were a bonus. Now, weekends are my relaxing time. They are when I sit in my PJ's (blue, flannel, polka dot ones) and watch sappy television, or play on facebook, or just sleep as much as I possibly can. It is the weekends when I feel like I have time for me and to just unwind. Don't get me wrong. The days I spend with my kids everyday in class are so rewarding and I love it, but everyone needs time to themselves, and I have come to love/need my weekends as a way to stay complete.

This weekend was wonderful. Friday, I went to So You Think You Can Dance with another teacher from my school, Brittany. It was a blast. We were only 5 rows back and it was exciting! Saturday, I slept and watched tv all day. Ethan and I went over to his dad's house for trick-or-treaters. Some absolutely precious costumes. Afterward, I went over to hang out with Jenny. So wonderful to sit and talk with my friend. I need those times sometimes to just unwind. Sometimes I think I take for granted some of my girl friends. It is during my most stressed or my weakest moments that they are there to pull me up, and I hope that I am there for them too when they need it. Jenny and I talked about how we have hit this point in our lives where we just don't always have time to talk to people. We are just busy. We are blessed though with those moments when you do receive that text from a friend just to let you know they are thinking about you, and when we have time to send those texts to other friends. It is those little things that let me know that we are all still there even if we don't have time to really talk a lot.

Sunday was spent shopping at the mall and just lounging again. Overall, it was the way I like to spend Sundays. Relaxing and calming.

I am definitely looking forward to next weekend. I will be making my first trek to Fayetteville to visit the lovely Samantha Lorton. It should be a good time. Just going to do girly things like shop and get massages.

Time for me to get some sleep. Another week begins tomorrow. Here is a lovely video of the Season 5 So You Think You Can Dance cast on Ellen! Enjoy

What Makes a Man Risk all for Love?

Ok, so we all know I am such a sucker for a great love story, and while browsing MSN yesterday I stumbled across this one. I absolutely love everything about this story. Just the complete leap of faith this man is taking!

What Makes a Man Risk All for Love?

Glamour's dating columnist "Jake" says goodbye to this column — so he can follow his heart. Why? Let him explain.

After two years I'm hanging up my hat as Jake, and next month someone new will become your pull-no-punches reporter on the male mind. Why? Because, for me, Jake should be a typical single man looking for love. And I'm not really that guy anymore. I've found the love of my life, and hopefully by the time you read this, I will be halfway across the globe with her.

For those of you who haven't been following our saga, I met the woman I call Claudia last year, and we shared a connection I'd never experienced before. It went beyond attraction; we simply "got" each other. Yes, I'd been in love before, but I'd never had this. Then, four months in, she got an un-turn-downable job offer to do a project that would send her around the world. My world hasn't been the same since.

We very rationally broke up, deciding that our still-new relationship would likely not survive a year and a half apart. (OK, full disclosure: I would have tried to make it work if she'd even hinted that she wanted to; she didn't.) Instead, we dusted off some vague clichés and agreed we'd "live our lives" and "see what happened." I haven't forgotten something she told me at our last dinner together. Looking sadly at me, she said, "I thought I had a good feel for the different types of guys out there. I didn't know you were on the menu." We decided not to make that night a sleepover so the morning would be easier. I didn't know how much I'd regret giving up my last chance to hold her in my arms.

After she left I figured that eventually, although it would probably take a long time, I'd move on. Instead, my love grew, leaving no room to really consider another woman. Which is why over the past few months, my columns have been devoid of stories about meeting prospects and dating. All spring and summer, it was just me and my never-ending Claudia thoughts.

That all changed last week. I woke up to a sunny morning and one thought: I truly love this woman. More than that, I realized that whether in school, sports or my career, anything I'd ever wanted I'd had to pursue. Yet I'd never gone after a woman. No matter how amazing a girlfriend was, as soon as there were petty differences or bad timing, I accepted that "it wasn't meant to be" (another dusty cliché). When Claudia left, I went cold turkey — no texts, no Skype, no Facebook. Well, not anymore. I sent her a tentative e-mail that day and got back an enthusiastic reply. That was followed by a phone call that felt as comfortable as if we'd spoken the day before. Why, I wondered, had it taken me so long to reach out? The next step seems obvious — I need face-to-face time with her.

The mind-set shift has left me a little rocked — until this I didn't even believe The One could exist outside a Matrix movie — but I have to find out how Claudia feels. Will she be happy to see me? I hope. Surprised? I'm sure, since I've only hinted that I want to visit. Will she even be alone? Yikes.

Regardless of what happens, I have to just go for it. Writing this column and reading letters you've sent helped me realize that. There was the e-mail from Amoura in Georgia, telling me she'd never have found happiness with her man if she hadn't stopped being "so planned." Melanie in Wisconsin wrote, "When you find your true love … things change." But no one got to me more than Sabrina in Philly, who said, "Losing someone you love feels like half of you is missing."

I listened to all of you, and to my own feelings, which is why I'm boarding a plane with enough socks, underwear and T-shirts for a month, plus a bundle of nerves big enough for forever. Wish me luck.

Emotional TV

I did about 3 solid hours of crying while watching tv this evening. It was pretty amazing. First I started off with a two hour Grey's Anatomy rerun of "Some Kind of Miracle" which is the episode that gets me more than any other tv show I've ever seen. I followed this up with the Jim and Pam wedding on The Office, which was just too sweet and awkward for words. I love television, or music, or books that make you feel something more. Not sure how to explain it. It is now time for me to go to bed. The rain and wind outside are a perfect sleep combination. I will leave you with the clip from Grey's that gets me every single time. Enjoy

Tires and Puke

So here is my Wednesday:

*Woke up at 7:25 and had to be at school by 8!
*Turning into the neighborhood I had to swerve to miss a horrible driver and hit a HUGE pothole.
*Flat back right tire!
*New Tire costs $250 to replace.
*My kids took stuff from my desk and had to give a super long speech about taking things that do not belong to you.
*on the way back from specials, a little girl threw up all in the hall and got it all over the bottom of my pants.
*Cried from stress related issues.

Here's hoping that Thursday is better than Wednesday

Love Story

I am a huge Office fan, as most of my friends know. This Thursday is the wedding of Jim and Pam. It seems so silly to get so incredibly attached to two fictional characters, but if you watch the show you understand how amazing their love story is. Here is the promo... I honestly teared up watching it.

A Beautiful Saturday

Yesterday ended up being lovely. The fair was a blast with 5 wonderful friends :) We ate a lot, people watched, looked at the expo and almost watched a police/gang fight. I will say one thing though. Well done to the Tulsa Police Department this year. I honestly feel like this was the safest the fair has been in a long time. Anyway, here are some pictures from our fair day.

Corn Dogs, Funnel Cakes, Ice Cream, Oh My!

Today is the day I have waited for for the last 2 months! We are going to the fair. We are going to do a lot of people watching and bad for you fair food eating. Jenny, Allen, Ethan and I went last year and it was so much fun! I can't wait for today with them, and Phil and Devon! A wonderful day with the most amazing friends. A girl couldn't ask for more. Here are some pictures as a teaser!

GLEE!

So I am absolutely in love with Glee. It literally warms my heart. Here are some videos :)

Somewhere Over the Rainbow...

Two of the most wonderful people I know got married on Saturday! James and Ashley Myers :) I love the sound of that :)


She was probably the most calm bride I have ever seen! Also, absolutely beautiful!
Waiting for the wedding after pictures. It was a blessing for us all that the wedding party was made up of a ton of very close friends.

Here we are singing "All My Life" by Kacee and JoJo to the bride and groom. It was actually a really sweet moment.



Wrapping up the night with everyone at McNellie's. Jesse and I gave our toasts here as well. I am so happy it happened that way because it felt so much more special to do it around just a group of friends. Definitely the perfect ending to a wonderful day!

Rollercoaster of a Day

So today was a super long day. It started when I went to school to work on my room. It is definitely coming together, but still have a lot of work. The new teachers had a meeting and lunch with the principals and lead teachers so that was fun. Nice to get to meet new people and to learn more about the schools.

Around 3, my mom called to let me know that my dad's stress test wasn't good, so they ended up having to do surgery. Pretty much the most horrible thing ever. I didn't get up to the hospital until they had already taken him back. The doctor told us he would call us in 20 minutes when he knew more... well 50 minutes later he finally called. Everything went really well. They blew out the blockage and checked on his stints which are doing really well. He even got to go home tonight. I'm just so grateful for a wonderful god.

Tonight was Val's wedding. She was an incredibly beautiful bride. She moves to New York tomorrow, and we will all miss her. I am so happy for her though. I really think she found the perfect person for her.

Well... my dad had a heart attack back in May. His LAD, also known as the widow maker, was clogged and he almost didn't make it. Thank god he is so incredibly stubborn and refused to let it get him. They put in 2 stints and was in the hospital for 4 days. It was probably the scariest 4 days of my entire life. Well, he had some chest pains this morning and is going to be in the hospital over night. They have run some tests (EKG, blood tests, etc). Tomorrow he has a stress test and as long as that comes out ok, they will let him go home. If it comes out not so good, they may have to go back in and take a look at his stints.

Basically, I am writing this just to get as many prayers as possible. If you find time tonight or tomorrow to say a prayer, please do :)

Wow! Overwelmed!

This week has definitely been a crazy one. This is the first week I have been able to get into my classroom. Last week I got an email from the principal telling me my room # was 30 and I was teaching 5th grade. So Monday morning, I walked in to the school and asked a group of teachers standing around if they knew where my room was. The principal then told me that I had been moved and was going to be in 3rd grade now. Needless to say, I was pumped. 3rd grade is what I have been wanting to teach all along and the grade I interned.

They showed me around the school and then I got to go in my room. Almost a completely blank slate. I have a lot of book shelves and more filing cabinets than I even know what to do with. I also have some great built in shelving units. I freaked out a tiny bit when I realized just how much work I have to do. Its amazing how overwelming it is to walk into a new workspace and have no idea what to do to it or how to organize it. The girls were awesome today though! Sara completely helped me organize everything, and Katie was such a help hanging things and moving things with me.

I am really excited about teaching where I am. The teachers are great. Most of them are pretty young and it just seems like a really fun place to be. Don't get me wrong though. I am also incredibly nervous and overwelmed. I have no idea what I am going to do those first few days, or what all I need. I am just going to figure it out and pray for the best. haha.

I'll post some pictures as soon as everything is done :)

Panic

So.... I have a classroom. I have a room number and everything. Just one small problem. I have no earthly clue what to put in this classroom. I don't know what is supplied to me and what I need to bring myself. I am really just freaking out. I am so happy to have a job and not be on the hunt anymore, but now I am worried about that next thing. Here's hoping I figure it out soon :)

The Punky Species

I thoroughly believe after today that there is a thing called too much sugar.

Sara, Katie, and I made cupcakes and played lots of Wii MarioKart today. They devoured a few cupcakes before I successfully cut them off. As you can imagine, they got incredibly loud just like all kids that eat too many sweets do. Sara decided somewhere during the afternoon that she was going to change her name. We were from then on required to call her Punky. As the afternoon went on, her story evolved. By the end of the afternoon, she had created her own race of people: The Punky Species. She and 2 other "punkies" live in the United States: Punky Jr. from Vermont and Punky Peroxide, a blond from Georgia. There are 30 other Punkies in Asia and 18 in India.

Such a huge imagination in such a tiny little person. Its truly awesome!

::Sigh:::

I am sorry for my incredibly vague post yesterday. Thank you everyone that reads this and did all of those things for me. I greatly appreciate it. Now I guess it is time to explain.

On Monday, I had an interview for a teaching position at the school district I desperately have wanted to work at. I was so nervous, I can't even begin to describe how I felt walking into that school. I was 20 minutes early, not because I meant to be that early but because I was so scared of being late that I left at an insane time to get there. I waited on the Principal and Asst. Principal to get everything ready and then went in. They asked me a lot of questions. In all honesty, I am not sure I can remember a single one. My adrenaline was pumping and I was literally shaking the whole time. The worst thing is when I get nervous, I talk with my hands way more than normal. I don't think I said a single thing without hand motions. At the end of the interview, I walked out and got in my car almost in tears because I was convinced I had just bombed the whole thing. They had interviews scheduled through Wednesday evening, so I knew I wouldn't hear anything for the next couple of days.

Fast forward to Wednesday... I was driving to meet some friends for dinner when the principal called me. Essentially, she wanted to ask me a few more questions and make sure that I would be interested in the grade levels they had available. A good sign for sure. She said she would call me today with more information.

Well.. She called me today and told me that she is officially going to recommend me to the school board for the position. I will have to go through a final interview and background check, but as long as they approve me, I will officially have a teaching job! I am so beyond excited. I feel like I want to pinch myself to see if its real. For all that know me, I have been in a state of panic over jobs since May. It feels like such a relief to know that someone wants me to work at their school and that I will have my own classroom! YAY! Anyway... Just keep praying for me that the school board approves me.

Fingers/Legs/Arms/Toes Crossed and Lots of Prayer

Please do all of the above for me tomorrow. I'll explain more later, but I would GREATLY appreciate it.

4th of July

This 4th of July holiday was a pretty great weekend. It was one of those weekends where there is an event every night and everything is pretty planned out in advance. While I love my free time, I love these weekends sometimes too. Its just nice to not have to plan anything and go with the flow.

Thursday night, Ethan and I watched the Owasso fireworks show from his mom's house. She had a great party with lots of people and some really great food. The fireworks left much to be desired, but it was a great time with friends and family. I absolutely love his mom's house. I'm not sure what it is, but it just makes me feel so comfortable and at home. Here is a picture of Ethan and I before the fireworks started. If you look carefully, you can see Kendra and Ryan taking the same posed picture we are. Oh how I love couple shots :)

Luckily Adam, Phil, Kendra and Ryan were able to come and watch the fireworks with us. Its always more fun when friends are there. I completely caught them off guard with this picture. Its live action.

Friday night, Ethan, Adam, Ryan, Kendra, Ashley and I met at El Guapo for dinner. While I'm not huge on mexican food in general, they have some pretty killer cheese nachos that I love. We sat on the top floor roof, which has a great view. It was pretty warm, but by that point the wind was starting to blow a bit more and it felt really nice. Ashley, Kendra, and I tried to take this picture about a million times. Each time one of us was making some goofy face (usually on purpose).
After El Guapo, we went to McNellie's where Jesse, Kirstie, Zaelin Carol, Carol's boyfriend, Aaron, and Rachel met us. It was great to play darts and just relax with friends. Here's Jesse, Kirstie and Ethan. The camera was accidently set to Aquarium mode which took some pretty interesting pictures.
I tried to get in on the picture here :)
Saturday, we spent the day at the Gibsons shooting off fireworks and eating entirely too much. Jesse's house has pretty much become a tradition among our friends for the 4th. His dad is a pretty awesome cook and there is always some wonderful food. You can always count on all of his cousins and family member being out there, too. Sadly this year I dropped the ball and didn't take very many pictures. I don't think a single one actually turned out ok, which is just very sad. I did get some fabulous video of a thunderstorm that moved in right after we finished shooting the fireworks though.

Sunday was Adam and Kirstie's engagement party. Their mom catered in Olive Garden and it gave us one last chance to see everyone before the weekend ended. Here's a picture of Ethan and I on the back patio. Take a look at the Mikles' backyard by the way. It is picturesque.

Well there you have it. I wish I could share all of the great things about this weekend, but there would be too much to name. I hope everyone else had a fabulous holiday as well!

The Things Kids Say

I have this funny little story I wanted to share with you all.

So Ethan, Sara, Katie and I went to the zoo yesterday and Ethan promised them that if they played along and answered animal questions he would take them out to lunch. They did (at least Sara did), so we went to Cheddars afterwards. We are sitting there eating and Sara is without a doubt the messiest eater I have EVER seen. She is holding this giant sandwich with ketchup and lettuce dangling from it, analyzing it, and suddenly she says "Jellyfish" before taking a huge bite out of it. It was awesome. It wasn't even like she was saying it to be funny. We all cracked up. Stories like these are why I love kids. They just make me smile :)

Sweet Summertime

Well, after a request from Phil, I decided it was time to update my blog a little. It definitely has been a long time.

This summer I am babysitting two girls I met during my internship class. They are 9 and 11 and pretty wonderful girls. Sara is a comedian all the time and she makes me laugh pretty much the whole day. Katie is a bit more serious, but she is so smart and witty. As most sisters do, they fight about little stuff frequently, but it is just getting me ready for when I have my own classroom and my students fight. Or of course when I have my own kids. Watching them has been pretty great. We do a lot too. We go see movies, paint pottery at Purple Glaze, swim at the pool or Big Splash, bowl... just lots of stuff. They love crafts too, so frequently we end up making picture frames, necklaces, whatever they think of at the time. Its a great summer job and has allowed me to have A LOT more free time than I had before.

The other big thing this summer has been attempting to find a teaching job. I never realized how hard it was going to be. I have applied many places, and plan to apply to many more, so hopefully I will find something. Its just so stressful at the moment. I desperately want to teach next year, and I am getting scared that I wont have a classroom. I have decided that if I don't get a job before school starts, then I will probably try to substitute and get my foot in the door at a few school districts. Everyone is predicting that there will be a massive need for teachers in the next couple of years, so maybe even if it doesn't happen for me this year I can get something next year.

This weekend is 4th of July and I absolutely cannot wait! I love this holiday. Thursday Ethan's mom is having her annual party, so we fully plan to go over there to watch the Owasso Fireworks and eat lots of food. Then Friday, no work for me :) which is great. 3 day weekends are fabulous. Saturday we plan to go to Jesse's for some firework shooting, BBQ eating fun :) Can't wait for that as well. Then Sunday is Adam and Kirstie's engagement party, so really it is just a jampacked weekend.

Other than everything I have talked about, I do have some family stuff going on. Its not anything I wish to put out on the world wide web, but if people read this please keep my family in your prayers.