Busy Bee!

Oh, man! I am so busy with everything I haven't posted in a while! Yikes! So here's the lowdown:

The trip is planned, now we just need to get our excursions planned - which we have looked at, by the way! Uncle Larry and Aunt Jody are OFFICIALLY going with us, which will make it more fun! I can't wait! :) It's my party and I'll cry if I want to! Hahaha! It will be awesome to be able to share this with them as well. Making memories, for sure!

Guard stuff is going very well - just a lot of work. I have a whole new respect for guard directors. Member packets, emergency forms, costumes, shows, equipment..... OH MY! But it's a lot of fun, and I wouldn't have it any other way! I have 2 of the best jobs in the world.

And finally, Christmas break! I LOVE IT! It has been so nice to just be booking for after the new year! I already have 3 jobs set for the first couple of weeks of school after Christmas break! Whew! It is nice to know ahead of time instead of getting those panicked 5:30AM phone calls...

Anyways, sorry this is rushed, but it's WAY past my bed time. I just had so much to do when I got back from guard that it's like I finally got a minute to write and I thought I would write! And on that note, GOOD NIGHT!

Christmas Break, Please!

I don't even work every day in the classroom and I'm ready for Christmas break... ugh. I'm just so ready for those 5:30AM phone calls to stop for a week and a half. Plus, I love the holidays! It's so nice to see family and everyone's so happy (*ahem* unless you're shopping, then everyone's in a hurry and willing to kill someone to get ahead in line or out of the parking lot). The no work thing is just kindof an added bonus.

Guard continues through break, though, but that has just become my solace. It's a great way to release some nervous or negative energy!

Not a whole lot to talk about, but the elementary guard started today, and I must say, it's great! I love it! I thought I loved teaching high school, but man oh man is elementary fun! I can't wait to see how this season pans out... it should be fun and interesting, that's for sure! :)

If I don't get on before Christmas, I hope you all have a Merry Christmas! :)

I Love My Life!

That's right, I said it! I think today was the first time I actually realized my accomplishments and how far I've come, even in the past few months.

When I was let go from WSMC, I was pretty down and out about my capabilities as a teacher. I felt beat down, and like I would never find my confidence in myself as a teacher.

Today I got a phone call from Sylvania schools wanting me to come in ASAP for a teacher that came in sick trying to make it through the day, but got sent home by the principal. I walked in, totally comfortable, and took over. Fine and dandy. The life of a substitute teacher.

But then, in lunch, I was sitting and actually carrying on a conversation about teaching with a bunch of experienced teachers. It was like I learned something in school! :) I was carrying on a legitimate conversation with teachers, as a substitute teacher! It felt good, and it made me realize that I'm not made out for private school, I belong in a public school setting. Because I care. I care about the kids and their lives at home, not just in school.

I thought about all of this while I was working out on our treadmill at home. I have found a sort of salvation in working out. I plug in my headphones for my iPod, and I take time to think while doing something good for my body. :)

Tonight I legitimately told my mom that I love my life. I do.

(By the way, we are officially 7 months and 9 days away from our trip! WAHOOOO!)

7 Months and 10 days!

Ring the alarms! We OFFICIALLY booked our trip with AAA today! I am so excited! I have a tentative itinerary (flights, arrivals, and a plan for the trip via the brochure) that tells us everything we need to know right now. It was so great to actually nail it down and *ahem* pay the bill (thanks, Daddio).

Next, we have to do some research. Or, shall I say, I need to do some research. We need to learn some of the languages. The easiest to learn will be English. Hahaha! We just need to master that accent. I'm working on it. I already know the base of French, but Italian is a bit shaky. I suppose I should work on that.

We were discussing (or I should say I was discussing) a paper chain to count down our days until the trip. Then I decided a good idea would be to have a fact on each piece of the chain. Now I'm considering vocabulary words as well.

So here we go! Only 7 months and 10 days to go until we are on the airplane and on our way! P.S. The plane ride there is 7 hours (Detroit to London - direct). However, the plane ride back (brace yourselves) is 10 1/2 hours! (Rome to Detroit - direct) Yowza!

I am closing this entry with the sightseeing adventures I am most looking forward to!

How you say....

Well, it's official. We are booking our trip to Europe! I am so excited that it's actually happening this time! :) We will go in July, and start with 3 days in London, then travel by Eurotrain under the English Channel to Paris for 3 days, then jump on a plane and spend 3 days in Rome! Yep, I will finally not only get to see the Eiffel Tower in person (not to mention Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, the Colliseum.... that's just the beginning!) but also take pictures in front of it! OHmyGOODNESS! I know what I will dream about tonight! Only a few more months of random pictures of Europe. Soon enough, I will have my own pictures.

My Poor Body...

So I made the decision to audition for the Biggest Loser again, and I asked Brenda to help me out since she's my trainer. This backfired. Major. Or it helped. It depends on how you look at it, LOL!

I went in to workout with Brenda on Tuesday since I didn't have to substitute anywhere. She informed me that I am not auditioning for the Biggest Loser, but that she was going to take over and give me the support I need. So she worked me hard. Like really hard. She bumped up all my exercises, despite the fact that I hadn't worked out with her in a few weeks. Oops! As if that wasn't enough, she had me do more Martial Arts, which I love! Not so much on Tuesday. Ouch. After bumping up all of my weights, my arms and legs were already dead. So let's punch and kick, shall we?

After finishing our workout, we had a true Biggest Loser Jillian breakthrough moment. She really dug into me and figured out what my problem is that's keeping me from losing weight. So now, here I am, journaling my food (counting calories, but not setting a limit... yet) and set to workout out at LEAST 30 minutes per day, except Sunday.

Today I needed to get in my workout, and I thought, why not? Let's go to Cycling. I haven't done that in a while, so let's just go for it. A couple hours later, MAJOR regret. Yowza. My whole body hurts. I was sore enough from my workout with Brenda yesterday, but man oh man do I hurt now!

We'll see how I feel tomorrow, but I am so glad I went regardless of my pain. I was actually proud of myself. All day I was coming up with excuses of why I shouldn't go work out. Finally at 4:30 I was just like you know what? I'm going. Too many excuses. My life has been based on excuses of why I'm fat. Now it's time to do something about it! Here we go...

It's Finally Happening!

Well, I finally get to share a huge part of my life coming up here. I received a phone call a few months ago about starting up an elementary guard, and I may have mentioned it before. I didn't want to get myself excited, because I wasn't sure the plans would actually go through. The good news is, the plans are actually going through! I am officially head director of Phoenix Independent Jr. Winter Guard!

I have picked out the show for this year, and it's going to be so much fun! I have also been doing my research on what is expected of an elementary winter guard, especially just starting out. Since this is our first year, we are going to target mainly Sylvania and Springfield Local Schools. We are going to be at the Springfield show on February 13, and the Findlay shows on March 12th and 13th, then finish out the season at State Championships on March 19th! I am so excited to finally have a guard of my own and to be the designer of the show and everything!

I am taking fliers around to the Sylvania Elementary Schools tomorrow to get things kicked off, and our first rehearsal/parent meeting is going to be on December 19th.

This is a very exciting time for me, and I'm hoping a lot of people will get a chance to see how much fun this sport is. I'm hoping this helps both the Phoenix Independent and the Springfield High School winter guard programs.

Cars

Well, I have officially decided on a show for the elementary winter guard I am directing. Not going to do a big reveal online... but it does have to do with cars! :) I am very excited to begin this journey as my first job as a director of a winter guard, it will be lots of fun and very educational, I'm sure!

Speaking of cars, I'm starting to think about a new car. My car lease is up in August, and, yes, since I am incredibly impatient, I am beginning to think about my next car! Any suggestions?

Happy Thanksgiving!

I just wanted to take a minute to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving! I hope everyone had a fun, safe holiday. I spent my Thanksgiving at the Michigan Seyfried's, and then today we had our real Thanksgiving dinner with our family (Mom, Dad, Amy, Nate, Ian, Mandi, and myself).

Unfortunately, Michigan lost again to OSU, but things happen! It was all about who showed up to the game, and we sure as hell didn't show up. :( Oh well, I still stand by the team! GO BLUE!

And so it is...

Things are going great! I got another call to substitute on Friday, so I was in a high school english classroom all day! It was awesome! The kids were fun to talk to, because they were high school and I could talk to them on a real level instead of talking disney... :) We talked Harry Potter, instead! It was fun... a lot of them went to the midnight premiere, and I was going Friday night, so they told me what to expect of the movie and whatnot. It was great!

We went to visit Gram today at Elizabeth Scott. She is doing great! She was happy (and surprised) to see us, which is always a good sign. Mom did her hair and we watched a little bit of The Cat in the Hat, then we walked her to lunch and left. It was nice to see her in a good mood, and her capability of talking is getting much better, perhaps because she is around people whom she can understand? I think sometimes around here we got to talking and she just "followed along". At least in ES she can participate in the conversations, because they make sense to her. We went through her apartment this afternoon and started separating things to keep vs. things she was hoarding (napkins, broken jewelry, toilet covers, the basics... LOL) and we ran across some notes from Grandpa. It was interesting to read letters from him while they were dating and when they were first married and having kids. So cute! My favorite was the little note he wrote to her at work asking her to "have the honor of escorting her home this evening"... doesn't that just melt your heart? I can't wait to have my own love story!

Well I am entirely exhausted from the day... very draining. So I am going to end this here. Think of me at 5:30 tomorrow morning... hopefully I get a call to substitute!

When at first you don't succeed...

I am again considering auditioning for The Biggest Loser. I wasn't too happy with my last tape once I sent it in. I felt like I didn't show enough of my personality, or enough of my lifestyle. This is a possibility that I am definitely considering, because I feel like no matter what I do, something happens to give me an excuse to give up, and I give up WAY too easily.

I really feel like with my recent health issues, I have an emotional tag now. I want this, and I want it bad! I think I should give it a solid attempt.

As Bob Harper says: Believe in yourself, trust the process, change forever!

Rough Patch

Well, everything has just hit. The past few weeks I have been sick on and off. Not quite sure what was going on, I just assumed it was the flu because I had the nausea, fever, stomach aches, etc.

Everything came to a head on Saturday. I was lucky enough to get a ticket to the University of Michigan vs. Purdue University football game! It was a long trip (5 hours there and back), but I was totally up for it to get to see my boys play. After tailgating I wasn't feeling very well, I actually had a fear that I was going to get physically sick. I didn't even eat that much, which really worried me! We went out to dinner after the game, and again I wasn't feeling well, so I ordered a kid's meal at the restaurant and ate about half of it before feeling incredibly sick again.

2 hours into the car ride we stopped at a gas station to use the restroom and take a break from sitting. When I got back in the car, I got to where I really felt like I was going to throw up. I got back in the car, and slept for an hour in the car. When I woke up, we had to pull over so that I could throw up. Then the stomach ache started, and I felt like someone was pulling at my insides. Literally. By the time I got home and changed, it had started to feel even worse. By 3 AM I couldn't sleep, so I asked my dad to take me to the ER. Through blood tests and ultrasounds, the doctors narrowed it down to one thing - my gall bladder. Beautiful. Now I have 2 appointments to go to tomorrow. Again, I say beautiful. The one good thing is that I am on some serious pain killers for when the attacks come on, and I am on antacids to control my stomach a bit.

I hate that this is my first post and it's about being sick, but I know a lot of people were concerned when they saw I was in the ER... so that's the update!