13 in '13: April Update

March got away from me, so I didn't update on my 13 in '13. I am pretty proud that I still remember my goals from January. Can you believe we are already 1/3 of the way through with 2013? Crazy!

We are doing okay at this one. I did have to dip into our savings account because someone (not me) double paid our mortgage this month. Actually our next bill isn't due until July.

We bought some shelves. Nothing has happened with them, but they are purchased, so that's something.

We have had 3 people make cash offers and then back out. Boo. My brothers have been doing some repairs, and it should be officially listed soon. I am so over this one.

At the end of February I had read 2. I am adding An Ice Cold Grave, I Hope they Serve Beer in Hell, Undead and Unappreciated, and Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? All fluff. But my total is up to 6 for the year. And I am in the middle of another Betsy Taylor book now.
**I do see that none of these books have any substance**

                                            

Awful. I am doing so bad at this one. May is a new month. Hopefully I can get it done. If I do get my 12 hours done in May, I will treat myself to some new workout shoes.

                                          

See above. I was actually doing really well on this for awhile. Now that the weather has been so much better, there really isn't an excuse.

I volunteered for my school's track meet and I signed up for the next one as well. I really do like watching my students participate in their events, and they love seeing us there as well. I also have signed up to help out at a 5k in June. I did the same thing last year, and it was so much fun!

In March I went on my first ever girls trip. My BFF was in Vegas with her in-laws so I flew down for a couple of days, she ditched her kid and her inlaws and we had 30 hours of fun :)

You probably saw it above, but I took a quick trip to Vegas. Craig and I have also been planning some fun times for summer break. 

I still haven't made progress on sewing, canning, and painting. I still need to purge my stuff. I will do more of that when we clean out the garage.

How are your resolutions?

5 things you have been waiting for

I was tagged by the lovely Erin to post 5 random things about myself.  She actually tagged me yesterday, and I knew that if I didn't jump on it, I would forget. So here you go... 5 things you always wanted to know about me.

Does anyone actually wash their face like this?

I have never been able to get a good skin care/face washing routine. The only time I was consistantly washing my face was before my wedding and I was using Proactiv and then I felt like my skin was burning off and my pillowcase bleached out. MY PILLOWCASE BLEACHED OUT! AFTER I RINSED MY FACE OFF! That freaked me out, almost as much as the drying out and burning that ended up happening.

I have a weird obsession with airports. I actually really love them. When we are going somewhere, I like to get to the airport early, not only to get through security safely, but just to enjoy the airport. I do not like going through security. Ever.

I really want to do some sort of fun color in my hair. Not the whole head, but some peek-a-boo color. Then I think to myself that I am 31 and it would look ridiculous on me. But then I think, who cares? There's nothing in my job that stops me, except that I spend 8-9 hours a day with 14 year-olds and they will tell you if you look stupid. (They also tell you when you look good... really they say what ever pops into their mind. They have no filter.)

Because I spend so much of my time with 14 year-olds, I notice myself talking like them. Today I said these phrases: "that's pretty dope," "Who dat?" "You best be working" and "awesomesauce."  No, I'm not proud of any of that. However, much like Angi, there are plenty of slang that I find ridiculous: "natch" (which is gross sounding, and makes me think of lady parts), "sitch," and "totes." I also don't like "fave" and "def," however I use those frequently because I am a terrible speller, and I just give up.

I really like mediocre movies that are not really targeted towards me. Con Air and every Fast and the Furious movie jump in my head right away. I really have no idea why I like them. But if they are on, I will watch it. No matter what. There are plenty of other mediocre movies that I like a lot, but those are more targeted towards my demographic. My husband really cannot stand most movies I like, or at the very least, he makes fun of me for liking them. I went through a period of time where I really liked indie movies (or I pretended to like them to seem cool). I mean I really did like Garden State and The Good Girl, but if I was faced with Con Air or Garden State, Nick Cage wins hands down.

I really do want to get to know all of you better. Let me know if you post one of these 5 things posts! (That is my way of taking the easy way out and tagging everyone.)

5 for 5 week 12, and my weekend

This weekend I Sunday we...

went took advantage of the great weather and had a little picnic at the fishing hole. It is actually a little out of the way county park right on the river that isn't well known. We packed up a lunch and headed out there. After lunch, we played some bocce, and then took some time to read by the river.  Fantastic.

Now let's take a look at something not so fantastic...

My goals from last week.

1. Drink a full water bottle at work everyday.
2. Have everything ready for the next day before I leave work.
3. 2 classes at the gym.
4. Go to Ulta.
5. Go to the bank.

Erika called me out for putting "Go to Ulta" on my list. What can I say, I wanted a win :) I seem to have forgotten where my gym is, that must be why I haven't been there in a while.

Here are this week's 5...
1. Confirm with our DJ for the last two dances of the year.
2. Give the pets their flea medication.
3. Finish reading Undead and Unreturnable
4. Go to one class at the gym. (baby steps people, baby steps)
5. Paint my nails.

Yes, these don't seem like the most challenging of goals this week. This week is the last week of the grading period, so I will be spending quite a bit of time at school grading and listening to kids' excuses on why they shouldn't be failing. (but seriously, my class is super easy. You shouldn't have an F any way.)

Have a great week! What are your goals for the week?

DIY Coffee Creamer

I pin a lot of stuff (like most people on Pinterest.) I have done my fair share of trying things out, and unfortunately I have had plenty of Pinterest fails. Sometimes I tread very carefully when I try out new things. When I saw this pin for DIY coffee creamer I was interested but I wasn't getting my hopes up.

Source

I love the flavor that coffee creamer adds. BUT I hate the mile long list of ingredients on the back of the bottle.

Isn't it crazy that milk isn't even an ingredient?

The recipe was fairly simple: 1 can of sweetened condensed milk, 2 cups milk, and a teaspoon of xantham gum. She had a bunch of variations/flavors to add to her base recipe. After looking through her variations, I chose to add 1 1/2 teaspoon coconut extract and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract to make coconut cream. Add all the ingredients to a bottle and shake. Easy peasy.

I decided I had to try it immediately, so I made myself a cup of coffee and poured some in. Almost immediately after I poured it in my mug, I noticed some lumps floating to the top. Not appetizing. I actually threw out that mug and tried again. I shook the creamer more this time before I poured it in. Still, a few lumps, so I stirred it in a bit more. My nose told me that it wasn't curdled, so I went ahead and tasted it. It was delicious. I am not sure what the little lumps were (maybe from the sweetened condensed milk?) but I didn't notice them as I was drinking. The next morning (today) I opened looked inside my creamer bottle and noticed a lump of something floating around. Ew. I poured all of my creamer into the blender (after it passed the smell test) and blended it together. When I poured it into my coffee, it was kind of foamy and thick. After talking with the home ec teacher at my school, I think the culprit is the xantham gum. I have never worked with that stuff before, and I know it is a thickening agent. I didn't notice anything after I stirred my coffee.

I am going to finish off this bottle (or at least try to) and then I will try again, without the xantham gum. I don't think this was much cheaper than the store bought creamers, but I feel better about drinking it. I am pretty excited to try some other flavors. I have been thinking about making vanilla caramel next.

How do you take your coffee? Have you tried to make your own creamer?

5 for 5 week 11

So I missed a week with my 5 for 5... oops. Here were my goals 2 weeks ago and how I did...

1. Drink a full water bottle at work everyday. 

2. Have everything ready for the next week before I leave on Friday.
3. Clear out the sink/counters every night before bed.
4.Go to at least 2 classes at the gym.
5. Eat something for breakfast everyday.

Not good. Maybe that's why I didn't update last week. I have been in such a funk lately, especially when it comes to working out. I just don't feel like it. I even have my gym bag packed, but when I leave work nothing is motivating me to go. Even the last time I went to Zumba, I was just bleh about it. And don't even ask me when the last time I ran was. I really wish I was able to take a workout class before work. I am also just bleh at work too. I am just dragging there as well. Probably because I am not working out. It's a cycle and I need to jump off.

This weeks goals:
1. Drink a full water bottle at work everyday.
2. Have everything ready for the next day before I leave work.
3. 2 classes at the gym.
4. Go to Ulta.
5. Go to the bank.

Any tips for getting out of my funk?

I wonder what else I could fit in my brain...

I coached high school cheerleading for right around 7 years. A couple years ago that chapter of my life ended.  Before I coached, I was a high school cheerleader for 4 years. That is 11 years of learning everything about cheerleading. Basically, I learned as much as I could about a whole world of high school girls, dance music, night games, bus rides and crazy parents. Now that I am done coaching (most likely forever) I am realizing my brain is full of (now) useless knowledge.
For example:

This picture shows 4 stunt groups doing a paper doll. (there are probably a group on either side of the picture as well.) The two on the end are assisted partner stunts (BTW those girls are beasts with great form!) This stunt is illegal in Oregon high schools because the fliers are in extended one legged stunts, and are touching the fliers next to them who are also in extended one legged stunts. The side two stunt groups are also illegal because they need a non-weight bearing spot behind the stunt. The coach didn't know what to do with the girl in the back so they made her stand there randomly. (she should be spotting one of those partner groups.) The base in the third group should have her legs locked out so that the stunt is more stable.

See what I mean? That was useless to all of you. And I could have kept going. Sure I have used some of my coaching knowledge since I left the sport (I have taught Zumba and I choreographed a flash mob) but there is a ton of stuff that is taking up space in my brain.

Other useless things that are taking up important space in my brain:
Algebra

The other day I subbed a period of  6th grade math class and they were working on problems like this. I kind of remembered how to do it, but seriously, I have never needed anything like this in real life. (I have used regular math, percentages and fractions in regular life, but I still haven't had to solve for X).

Overhead Projectors

In my teaching program, we had to learn how to use one of these dumb things. Like we seriously had days and weeks worth of lessons on this ancient piece of technology. These are pretty much obsolete now.

Wrestling Stats

I scored wrestling in high school and I have done it a couple times since. But now wrestling has been cut from middle school, so there isn't much of a need for this skill of mine. But I still know take downs and reversals are worth 2 points, near falls are 2 or 3 and an escape is worth 1.

What is taking up space in your brain?

Do you online shop?

We do a lot of our shopping online. We have found that even with shipping, the prices are lower and the selection is much bigger. Every time I shop online I use Ebates. Honestly I thought everyone already knew about Ebates, but I mentioned it to Angi once, and she hadn't heard of it so I thought I would share.

Before I shop online, I go to ebates.com first and log in. From there I can go to most of my favorite websites and shop as normal. Usually within a couple of days I get an email that says my Ebates account has been credited. Different websites give you anything from 1%-5% back your total purchase. Sometimes there is even specials and you can get up to 10% back. 4 times a year Ebates mails out Big Fat Checks. Free money!!

Ebates is free to sign up for and free to use. Most of the websites I shop from are on there (Modcloth, Kohls, TOMS, etc.) Only certain categories from Amazon are on there, so that kind of sucks. And Forever 21 isn't on there, yet. They do add shops pretty frequently.

You can use this link to sign up for Ebates. I do get a referral bonus when people sign up through this link, and then start shopping. But, I do think it is really a cool thing if you shop online. So far I have been paid over $90, and right now my next check will be at least $44.

What is your favorite online shopping site? Have you ever used ebates?

Weekend Adventures at the Coast!

I haven't shared my weekend adventures lately, because quite honestly my weekends have been pretty lazy laid back, and I am guessing that reading about grocery shopping and laundry won't hold anyone's attention.
This weekend I went to the beautiful Oregon coast!

Friday night we were at home, when my husband looks over and asks if I wanted to stay at the coast this weekend. After a quick search, I had booked a pet friendly hotel in Newport, Oregon. The next morning we packed up and headed out.

We haven't taken Gus to the beach with us in quite a while, and I forgot how much he loves it. He spent a good hour or so just running around in and out of the water. One of the big reasons we don't take Gus to the coast more often is he's not great in the car. He whines, barks and gets car sick. Poor boy. He also gets scared at new places. And he was scared of the foam the tide left on the sand.

The weather was gorgeous, which is not always the case on the central Oregon coast. Weather.com said it was supposed to rain the entire time, but we didn't see any rain until a quick shower Sunday morning before we went out for a walk.

Every time we go to Newport we talk about eating dinner at Local Ocean Seafood, which overlooks the docks. For whatever reason, we never have tried it, even though we have drooled over the menu. I seriously don't know what we were waiting for. We started dinner with grilled calamari, then we split a crab po' boy and a bowl of Brazilian seafood stew with a coconut milk broth. So yummy. I highly recommend it!

It was a quick trip, but it was so good to be at the ocean. Gus is super worn out now

Wednesday Randoms

I have decided to grow my hair out. I think. The main reason is that I like to use hot rollers like a little old lady to do my hair in the morning. It is faster than using a flat iron and I am lazy.

Over spring break I went on a quick Vegas getaway. Actually I was there for 36 hours. It gave me a taste of warm weather and sunshine and now I need it. I can't stop looking  up weekend getaways for May. (Mostly back to Vegas.)

Do you remember your senior year of high school when you develop senioritis and it is impossible to focus in class and you can't do any work? Yeah, I got that. Bad. Today on my prep, I played Candy Crush. I think it has to do a little bit with my 36 hour vacay.

This why I can't buy my dog toys. He had that cute hemp/organic cotton orange stuffed bone for exactly 8 minutes before it became a whole bunch of organic cotton balls.

I bought the cutest cotton maxi dress ever this weekend. When I tried it on, I pictured myself wearing it in Hawaii. Unfortunately Hawaii is not in the plans for this year, so I will just have to put it on, make a pina colada and turn the heat way up in the house. (It was on super clearance as well so that was a bonus.)

I also may or may not have thought how cute a little baby bump would be under said dress. No big announcement or anything, just my mind wandering.

Over the weekend I got fitted at Victoria's Secret. Clearly their math is wrong and their sizing is way off. Some how I was told I wear a 34DD. When I told my husband that, he said "No way. Those are Elvira boobs."

Source

How is your Wednesday going??

The Worst Advice I Was Ever Given

I was 23 when I first started teaching. (That in itself is crazy to think about.) I was fresh out of college when I got my first teaching job. I finished college in December and by the end of January I was hired to finish out the school year for a teacher on maternity leave. In college, my advisers in the teaching program all said the same thing: learn from the teachers around you, ask for help, and listen to their advice. And be nice to the secretaries. That was all good advice.

My first job was a 5th-8th grade PE teacher. Most PE jobs have a female teacher (me) and a male teacher for locker room supervision duties. While I was licensed to teach PE, and I had done some student teaching in PE, I didn't feel 100% comfortable with teaching PE. I turned to the male PE teacher (Eric) for guidance and advice, just like my college professors had told us to.

Eric was a great teacher. The kids loved him, he had great management, and had inventive games to teach the sport skills we were working on. I learned a lot from him about teaching PE (and honestly, teaching in general.) But Eric also gave me the worst advice I was ever given. One day we were talking after school about whatever and he told me this: "don't be friends with the people you work with."

Don't be friends with people you work with.

I think the idea behind this piece of advice is have a life outside of school. That I 100% agree with, but really, don't be friends with the people you work with? At the end of that school year, I left that school and ended up taking another middle school PE job in a different district. I remembered that advice, and tried to implement it. I was nice with my other staff members, and again I learned a lot from my fellow PE teacher, but I wasn't friends with them. That was a miserable school year. I was extremely unhappy and I almost left the profession entirely. At the end of the year, I left that district and was hired into my current job.

I started out my first year with the same approach. One day in November I was asked to go out after work for happy hour. I honestly didn't have a reason not to go, so I said okay. And it was fun. :) I decided Eric's advice was full of crap, and started doing more social things with the staff members. Since then I have been to numerous happy hours, bowling, golfing, been to tie-dye parties, and more. This school year I am in a monthly Bunco group. When my mom died at the beginning of the school year, it was those same people that covered my classes, came up with lessons and made it so I didn't have to worry about what was going on. Several also called/texted to see how I was doing. A woman I had known for 3 weeks left the most thoughtful card in my box when I came back.

There is so much that I love about my job. I love my students, I love the subject I teach, and I really do love (most of) the staff I work with. If I were to give advice today to a new staff member I would echo a lot of what I learned in college: learn from the people around you and ask for help. I would add, get to know your coworkers outside of school. And be nice to the secretaries.

Have you ever gotten really bad advice?

5 for 5 week & my week in review

I'll be honest, I didn't do to well this week. Don't judge.


1. Drink a full water bottle at work everyday.
I brought my water bottle one day, and then left it at work. And didn't touch it for the rest of the week. Oops.
2. Do all 3 days of week 6 in the Couch to 5K program. 
2 out of 3 days isn't bad, but it isn't finishing it.
3. Have everything ready for the next week before I leave work on Friday.
Nope. I mean, I pretty much know what I am doing everyday, but I it's not laid out they way I wanted to.
4. Cook with something out of the freezer.
Nope. I did use up some chicken Sunday night for a crockpot meal.
5. Clear out the sink/counters every night before bed.
For the most part we did it but not everything, every night.

So what did I do this week??

I wore my TOMS everyday to work. They are seriously the most comfortable shoes ever, even if they aren't the most professional.

I started my sex ed unit. I was almost able to keep a straight face during this conversation:

            Question from the anonymous question box: What's a wet dream?

            Me: When a boy releases semen in his sleep. It's normal and natural and does not mean he is  

                    having "sexy" dreams.

            BOY 1: So you wake up with wet sheets?

            Me: It's not like peeing the bed or anything.

            BOY 2: Haven't you woken up with the sheets stuck to your leg?

I got caught up on laundry.

Listened to some guy quote us $21,000 for a new roof (after him being in my house for almost 3 hours and making me miss my Zumba class.) I pretty much laughed in his face.

I was on Pinterest like it was my job.

I dealt with some not fun family stuff with my mom's estate. I'll leave it at that.

Most importantly, I finally passed level 70 on Candy Crush Saga. (If you don't play that game, don't start. It will drive you insane.)

Here are my 5 goals for this week. I am going to give myself another try on a few of these.

1. Drink a full water bottle at work everyday. 

2. Have everything ready for the next week before I leave on Friday.
3. Clear out the sink/counters every night before bed.
4.Go to at least 2 classes at the gym.
5. Eat something for breakfast everyday.

How was your week? What goals are you setting for the week.

Stunna Shades!

When I was contacted by Firmoo to try out a pair of glasses from their website for free I was pretty excited. I had seen plenty of bloggers showing off their new glasses and writing up reviews. I had even clicked through the website a few times to look at their selection. The one thing that was holding my from saying yes right away is the fact that I haven't been to an eye doctor in at least a decade. I just keep making the text bigger on my laptop and Nook. BUT then I noticed their large selection of sunnies and since the sun is starting to come out, I knew that I should try out a pair.

I started by looking through their super cute styles. I uploaded a picture of myself so I could virtually try on each pair before I made my selection. This is where I had a little bit of an issue. According to Firmoo, 98% of people find their perfect pair that way. For me, they all looked ridiculous on my forward facing picture. So, I just sucked it up and ordered the cutest ones I saw.

I received my glasses fairly quickly after I ordered them. They came with a hard case as well as a soft drawstring bag and a cleaning wipe. Luckily, I don't think they look ridiculous on my face. I guess I am just part of the 2%. I got mine with non-prescription lenses, but they also have prescription lenses as well.

Firmoo has a wide selection of frames, and the prices start extremely low. As a bonus, they have a first pair free program. They also provide a full refund if you don't like the product. One of these days when I get around to going to the eye doctor, I'll take my prescription and order a pair of glasses.