Florida Highlights

Greetings fellow bloggers!

I feel so bad for making two posts and then falling off of the face of the earth, but I have a good excuse. Yesterday night I got back from a wonderful 2.5 week vacation to Florida to see my wonderfully mom. It had been almost a year since I last saw her, so needless to say the trip was wonderful!

Here are ten highlights (the list will be long because I want to write down everything I want to remember!):

1. I got a tan. 
I almost never tan because I go right past in an straight into sunburn-land. Because my vacation was so long, it was perfectly acceptable to go to the beach for a short period of time many days.

2. I saw Barracuda
I haven't been snorkeling since I was in Cancun 6 years ago, so it was one of the things I really wanted to do. We went to Key Largo and had a great time. We saw angel fish, parrot fish, trumpet fish, and other little fish we didn't decide to identify. We also saw beautiful coral including the biggest brain coral I have ever seen. The best part was seeing several barracuda. I have no idea why, but I love those things.

3. I saw my Aunt and Uncle
My sister and I made a 4 hour road trip to have dinner and spend the night at my aunt and uncle's house. We  had a great time and watched Michael Phelps break the Olympic medal record.

4. I saw Sugarland
My mom got tickets for her birthday and we all had a great time. Jennifer Nettles is the cutest woman ever.

5. I got stung by a Jellyfish
Not exactly a highlight, but it is definitely something I will never forget about this trip. It wasn't too bad because it only hit me really quick and no tentacles wrapped around me. Needless to say, this was the last beach trip.

6. I drank Slurpees
There is a 711 right near my mom's apartment, so we would always walk there before taking a walk along the beach. I had more Slurpees on this vacation than I have ever had in my life!

7. I listened to really bad karaoke
We went to dinner at a tiki bar full of older folks who apparently do karaoke every week. I love SO much music and somehow these folks picked out strange songs that I have never heard.

8. I bathed in ice cream
My sister and I went to get ice cream one night and tried to bring some home for my mom. The Florida heat+ a 15 minute car ride+ a non insulated cup+ my sister forgetting the hit the A.C. button in the car= two girls covered in ice cream and one hilarious memory

9. I had fun with drag queens
Last year I was in Florida near my birthday. We went to a drag show in Fort Lauderdale and since it was close to my birthday, we decided it was my celebration. I got a brownie with a sparkler in it and a picture and it was tons of fun. This year my trip was also close to my birthday, so we went again. It has become such a fun tradition.

10. I ate amazing food and rocked out 
One day we had nothing planned so we all went to a really cool farmers market (which isn't REALLY a farmers market, more like a fresh food market because the individual farmers weren't there). We got to taste all sorts of amazing foods. We got wonderful bread, cheese, fruit, to take home. That night we ate said bread, cheese, and fruit for a really light and wonderful dinner. During this dinner we watched the VH1 100 greatest artists of all time countdown. It was a ton of fun. I got to learn a lot about my mom's new boyfriend and we found out our musical opinions are (mostly) similar. This was one of the best days of the trip because the day just flowed, we had nothing planned but we had an amazing day.

The trip was also filled with a ton of Olympics watching, chatting, and general hanging out. I felt so secure and happy and I just went with the flow. I am trying to maintain that feeling at home as Tyler and I still get used to living on our own without the safety net of family.

Here is a picture of me and my wonderful momma!

I hope this list will help me to realize how much fun I had this summer on my trip, mainly enjoying my family.

Monday Made It

I have to admit, one of the main reasons I decided to start blogging was the amazing amount of inspiration I have been getting through this fun little linky party that TARA has been doing for most of the summer. Teacher bloggers from all over have been linking up to share their DIY projects for the classroom.

I have spent many hours this summer looking at all of the fun, unique, and creative things that other teachers have been making for their classrooms. I decided that it was time for me to start making things of my own and get in on the fun!

Yesterday was a fairly productive day for me because I was stuck in the house all day. Currently, T and I share a car, which decided to break down on us Friday afternoon. I spent most of the day on my computer coming up with ideas and researching curriculum. To some this may be a boring day but for me it was actually lots of fun!

I decided it was time for me to have some fun with the pizza pan/magnet board idea that is all over Pinterest right now (my appologies, I don't have any idea where the idea began). I got my inspiration from THIS BLOG and knew that I had to have a something similar for my room (that fit with my color scheme of course). 

Here is my inspiration

And here is what I managed to make

Not too shabby if you ask me! I have a confession, my project is not 100% done. These magnet boards are going to be used for students to indicate their Daily 5 choices. They will each have a magnet with their name on it and they will put their magnet on the board that corresponds with their choice. Because I am immobile I couldn't get the vinyl I need to make the lettering for the titles of these boards. I will label the tops of the boards in chocolate brown vinyl letters with Daily 5 choices such as "Read to Self" and "Word Work". I think they are going to be beautiful.

I can't wait to see what other teachers have made this week!

Jumping (Back) on the Band Wagon

Well, here I am on blogger once again. This will be my third (maybe fourth) attempt at blogging. I have a good feeling about it this time for a few reasons.

1. I have something to blog about 
The last several times I tried to start blogging were when I was still a college student. Mainly I would write about my class assignments and things I liked and wanted to remember. This lack of focus would eventually lead to about 4 or 5 blog posts and another failed attempt. Considering the fact that I recently graduated, moved across the country, and accepted my first teaching job, nowadays I have TONS to blog about.

2. I am excited to connect with the teacher blogging community
As I have been looking for ideas for my new classroom, I have stumbled upon an AMAZING community of teacher bloggers. I have been stalking/perusing several blogs for a while now, and I have decided it is time to join the party. I feel that this community could provide me with ideas and support that will be essential to my survival during the year ahead.

3. I have a vision for this blog
My goal for this blog is to celebrate this time in my life. I will write about my successes and my challenges with the view that they are all a part of the crazy life I have created for myself. I plan to write about my classroom as well as my life as a newly minted adult living in a completely new place with the guy I love. This blog will be all about being the teacher, daughter, sister, cousin, niece, girlfriend, and cat mother known as Miss Cooper.

I think this could be the start of something quite fun.