Tagged :)

Mrs. L from Life with Mrs. L and Sydney from Lessons Learned...fun!   Thursdays are S-L-O-W for any kind of quality tv watching, so I thought I'd play along. 

The Rules
1) Post the rules.
2) Post 12 things about yourself
3) Answer the 12 questions sent from the person that tagged you. Then create 12 new questions for the people you tag.
4) Tag 12 people and link them to your post.
5) Let them know you tagged them.

12 Facts About Me...

1.  I am the oldest of four {2 girls & 2 boys}

2.  I am TERRIFIED, absolutely phobic, of frogs.  And flying. 

3.  I auditioned for the Mickey Mouse club when I was in 6th grade.  I didn't get a call back, so I'm currently living out my MMC fantasies in my 1st grade classroom.

4.  I dressed up as a cow for Halloween my freshman year in college.  I flew back home that same day.  The flight attendants let me pass out peanuts on the flight!  Needless to say, my parents were "udderly" embarassed when I stepped off the plane ;)

5.  I once *stalked* Britney Spears at a hotel here in town when she was visiting on tour {circa 2001}.  We met her bodyguard {Molicious} and he invited us back up to her room.  He was CREEPY as all get out.  Britney was sleeping in the room adjoining the one we were in, so we didn't get to meet her.  Sad face. 

6.  I read magazines from the back to the front.

7.  I'm obsessed with crossword puzzles and LOVE to read the dictionary for fun.

8.  I was in labor with my first born for 24 PAINFUL hours.  I wouldn't dilate and they were about to wheel me back for a c-section when the little mister decided he was ready.  By the time I was ready to push, my epidural wore off and I couldn't get another refill.  Let me just say that I could feel every part of his little body make his way into the world.  And I promise his head weighed the most :)  Lawd. 

9.  When I was a senior in college, I got a $500 tip from a guy at the golf course where I worked!!!  It couldn't have come at a better time.  Rent was due and my dog had just been diagnosed with mange!  His treatments were a whopping $250 every two weeks!!!

10.  I was the victim of a {super creepy} Peeping Tom in high school.  We moved shortly after he tried to crawl through the window in my bedroom!!!!

11.  The house we moved to was haunted.  I never believed in ghosts before we moved, but I swear...they are real.  We lived in fear for 6 months!!!  Finally, my mom had the house blessed and there were no more scary incidents.  My parents are still living in that house.  Freaks me out EVERY.TIME I go home. 

12.  I student taught at the same school where Mr. Spouse was working as the P.E. coach.  He never knew I existed.  I thought he was the cutest dang thing I'd ever seen.  A year later...hadn't seen him in about 9ish months...we both got new jobs at a different school in the district.  So, we were both at the same school.  3 months later, he asked me out on our first date...in an email that I still have saved...and we've been together ever since.  Godwink!!!!!!  HE always has a plan!!!!

Questions from Mrs. L...

1.What is one thing you wished you had for your classroom?

   I'd LOVE some iPads!!!!!  Even a few iTouches would be amazing!!!

2. What is your favorite professional development book?

    Anything by Fountas & Pinnell

3. How would your students describe you?

    LOUD!  Funny/silly & loving

4. Where do you get your clipart?

    Either from Scrappin' Doodles or JD Digi Designs. 

5. What is your favorite concept to teach?

   I'm SO not a math person, but 1st grade math rocks my socks off.  I love teaching any and everything related to math!!! 

6. What is one thing you wish you knew before you became a teacher?

    To document EVERYTHING and save ALL emails and correspondence with everyone!

7. How do you stay organized?

    Organized??  For real?  Running to-do lists!!! 

8. What do you do when you are on break?

    Spend as much QT with my boys as I possibly can :)  Lots of trips to the mall play area, park, movies, the village beach, baking cookies, movie nights at home, dance parties in the living room, & playing in the backyard :)  And I'm a big fan of going out to eat, too.

9. How many blogs do you follow?

    Between all my DIY/craft blogs, cooking blogs, personal blogs, design blogs, and teaching blogs, I'm pretty sure it's well over 300.  I read them all through Google Reader, so I'm not really sure!!! 

10. What is your favorite band/artist?

      I have WAY too many to name them all.  My favorite artist of all time is definitely Frank Sinatra.  I could listen to him ALL.DAY.EVERY.DAY.  I'm also a HUGE fan of Jack Johnson, Ben Harper, Amos Lee, Ray Lamontagne, Mumford & Sons, Dave Matthews, and Jimmy Buffett.  Let's not forget George Strait, too :)

11. What is the last movie you saw?

      At home, it was Moneyball.  Totally fell asleep for the last 30 minutes, so I'm still not sure how it ended.  At the theater, it was Alivin & the Chipmunks:  Chipwrecked.  Terrible, horrible, no good movie.  My boys LOVED it.

12. What are you currently reading?

      I just downloaded Crazy Love: Overwhelmed by a Relentless God by Francis Chan and The Ministry of Motherhood by Sally Clarkson.  Can't wait to start both of them!!!  On another note, if you're looking for a good Bible study, you should check out The Wardroble of Christ by Carrie Rogers.  BEST Bible study I've EVER done.  Wow.

Questions from Sydney...

1. How long have you been teaching?

    This is my 10th year in the classroom!!!  CRAZY!!!!

2. Have you taught at the same school the whole time?

   This is the 3rd school for me :)   I taught at my first school...with 10 teachers on my team!!!...for 3 years and then the school split.  It was HUGE.  I was excited for the opportunity to open up a brand new school, so I headed to my 2nd campus.  Loved it.  I was there for 4 years.  The commute was a killer.  It took me forever to get to school in the mornings and the drive home in the afternoon was even worse.  By this time, I had my boys and I hated all the time we were spending in the car instead of spending it with each other.  I wanted to be closer to home and then God gave me the most amazing opportunity.  He truly blessed me with the school I'm at now...I've never been happier!!  AND, I'm only 12 minutes from home :)

3. Do you like to travel? Where?

    LOVE to travel, hate to fly.  If I could road trip everywhere, I would.  I'd prefer to travel somewhere beachy.  I've been to Europe 4 times and that was amazing, but I'm way to chicken to fly that long again, so I'm not sure I'll go back.  There are A TON of places I want to visit here in the U.S!! I've never been to California, and I've only been to Florida once...for a destination wedding.  I'd love to go back!!!  And I REALLY want to visit Savannah, GA, anywhere in Colorado, and the Carolinas!!!  Chicago is my most favorite place to travel in the states and Las Vegas runs a close 2nd :)

4. How early do you get to school? OR How late do you stay?

   Depends on the day!  Lately, I've been getting to school about 10 minutes before we have to pick up the kids.  I usually stay 'til about 4:45ish because my boys have to be picked up by 5 :)

5. Why do you like blogging?

    I have 3 different blogs and I love them all for different reasons.  I love having my family blog because it's my scrapbook of my most favorite memories.  I have all of my posts turned into blog books to give to my boys :)  Our little family adventures aren't very exciting to read about, but they're OUR family memories and I don't want to miss a thing!  Plus, it keeps our families totally in the loop.  We have no family in town and this is the best way to let them know what's going on in our neck of the woods!!! 
   I love having my cooking/DIY blog because it's just fun and it keeps me from being too lame in the kitchen.  Mr. Spouse loves it because he never has the same meal more than once a month.  We're always trying new recipes!!!  And I've had a lot of really neat opportunities because of it, too. 

   I love my teaching blog because of all the amazing people I've met through it!!!!  I love sharing ideas and collaborating with other teachers from all over.  AND...I love being able to look back and visually see what I've been doing in my classroom.  It really helps keep me on track!!!

6. Mac or PC?

   PC!  But, after the latest snafu with my laptop, we're seriously considering switching to Mac!!

7. Do you use any drawing programs on your computer?

    I'm learning Adobe Illustrator!!!! 

8. Do you like to make photobooks? How do you store your memories?

    All of my family memories are stored on my personal blog and slurped into Blurb for our family scrapbooks.  I backup all of our pictures on my EHD, CD's, and Mozy :)

9. Plants - do you have them, can you keep them alive?

    Mr. Spouse has the green thumb in our family. He takes care of all the landscaping and flower beds.  We have NO living plants inside :)

10. If you could go to one event over the weekend, what would it be?

     A cooking/food event :)

11. Do you make your bed every morning?

      Mr. Spouse is still asleep when I leave in the mornings and if you think he's makin' the bed, you're crazy!!  It's always in a state of messiness unless we have company over.

12. Do you refill your car with gas the minute the light comes on, or do you press your luck?

Totally press my luck.  The light on my gas tank has been blinking for the last 30 miles :)  I'm *praying* I can make it to the gas station before school tomorrow!!

I'm terrible at choosing people to tag...I don't want to leave anyone out!!  So...if you made it this far and you're still reading...consider yourself TAGGED!!!!!!