50 Book Challenge

On my positively present email a few weeks ago, the blogger read 100 books in a year. Wow!

So, I decided to attempt a pledge of 50 books for 2014. Phil and I are going to take the challenge together which I am looking forward to. About a book a week. Durham has a wonderful library which will help me get through this challenge. I will post my challenge on here to share the books that I am reading in 2014.

Any book suggestions? 

Tis the season <3

This year will be the first year that I will not spend the holidays with my family. Plane tickets were almost $500. Yikies! I will certainly miss my family and all of our wonderful traditions. We always spend Christmas Eve with my mom's family and then we used to work around my Dad's schedule for the events of Christmas. This was the first year that my Dad would be free for both days...bummer! Thankfully I will be going to Phil's hometown in South Carolina to spend the holidays with his family. I love pinning new ideas about holiday traditions. It is interesting to see what traditions each family has. I will also get to spend the holidays with two adorable cats and Phil. 

What are some of your holiday traditions?

The Culprit: Sweets!

I am so proud of myself! I did not eat any of these delicious looking point ruiners. Sweets are my favorite things: they help me when I have a good, bad, not so great, awesome, worrisome day. Well, I thought they helped. Now, I am tracking all of my feelings after I eat sweets...like does my stomach hurt, is my stress gone, do I feel like this was a good decision? Guilt is a powerful motivator for me to continue eating sweets. Which then just adds the points on...who woulda thunk it? 

I am beginning to see the light and idea behind weight watchers of the small changes. I am tracking my points online and on paper so I can set small goals every week and be able to track them. This week I am working in drinking more water and to ask myself if I am hungry or if I am thirsty? 

Please feel free to share any stories of your own with the culprits behind living a healthy lifestyle.

Crossroads

A few weeks ago, I had to make a tough decision about my second job. Now that I am living in Durham it was a struggle for me to be motivated to drive all the way to Raleigh to do my second job for three hours a day, five days a week. After teaching all day, I would be exhausted so I wasn't able to give it my all and I was driving 100 miles a day. Yikies! After weighing the lord and cons, I decided to just commit to one job and make time in my life for other things like working out more and spending more time with my friends. It has certainly been an adjustment to have more time on my hands but I am looking forward to seeing all of the awesome things I can do with my new free time! 

<3

Moving Day for the Murphy's

Phil and I helped Whitney and Jimmy move...well, I should say Phil helped way more than me. I took a ton of photos of the beautiful Miss Lydia. My friends are having babies all around me and it is a blessing to spend time with them and share in the beginning of their lives. I can't wait to see Lydia and Addy grow up and see all my friends build their families. 

Lydia kept on wanting to be switched from me to Phil. Evidentially it is a big compliment to Phil that she even wants to be held because Jimmy is the only one that she likes to hold her. She has quite a good grip and pulled on Phil's lip and beard. Thankfully, I wasn't wearing any jewelry!

A chunk full of beard!

And then, the cuteness continues....

Unfortunately, I don't have any photos of Addy but will post some soon!

EC Conference

I was invited to attend the EC Conference in Greensboro for two days. The conference featured topics on: Positive Behavior Support Team, Teaching Reading to Struggling Readers, and Teaching Students with Autism. I had a great time and learned quite a bit. I also was able to pick up great homemade cards from an OCS class near Charlotte.

I would love to have my students make cards like these for school based hours. What an amazing idea!

A Time for a Little Gratitude...

Thanksgiving is the time to be grateful for all the small things in our lives. 

Phil bought me this flower the other day just because (aww...he is awesome!)

"The best things in life are not things."

First and foremost, my family who has always support me through the silly and often stupid decisions that I made throughout my teenage/young adult life. They have always been there for me and I will always be grateful to the support family provides. 

The great state of North Carolina: it may be odd to be thankful for a state but this state has provided me with a happier life since moving away from Maine where I suffered from seasonally affective disorder. I have also found my passion for teaching here.

My Friends: This would thankfully take a long time of all the awesome people I have in my life but those people know who they are... I remark that they are awesome because of course they are. Each person has uniquely helped me through hard times and great times and we all share amazing memories. 

My Relationships: Old and new because they have taught me to learn from my mistakes and who I deserve to have in my life. I am grateful to have so many relationships that are meaningful that it would be difficult not to thank them.

My Students: They are awesome! If it weren't for my students the job would certainly not be worth it. They teach me patience, make me laugh, teach me things and allow me to open their mind to new things.

There are so many things to be grateful for and I hope that I continously live in the abundance of all the awesome things (people) in my life.

<3