Today my friends, is a VERY special day. IF all goes well, and we all know how unpredictable the government is, our house will close and we will officially be home owners! We're banking on the positive though. Oddly enough, I don't feel like this is real because we've been trying to get this shin dig done for over 7 months now. So you can pinch me until it hurts because this girl ain't getting her hopes up. Ah crap, too late.

It's so unbelievable that I am 21 years young, married, and out of the house I've lived in for my WHOLE LIFE. Seriously, it just hit me last night that I'm not a little girl anymore. Although I sure act like it 99.9% of the time and my husband can attest to it. 

We searched far and wide and looked at more houses than I can remember, but despite the flaws on this bad boy, it's perfect for Ry and I.



This is pretty much the only picture I could find. Thanks Zillow. I was at the house yesterday drilling out the outlets before the painters came today and took pictures of everything BUT the outside. I know I know, I pinched myself for that one. I absolutely love it though. Fun Fact: The street's name is Lovett. Better believe I'm going to be making that pun more than once. Anyway, I just love the brick on the outside and just the overall look of the house. Obviously Mindy, you picked it. And I won't go on anymore about the looks (I will post the before and afters in the 'House Tour' tab once we move in and get everything settled).

I'm just so excited to start a new life in this place with the man I love. Lots and lots of memories will be made here and once again...I'M SO EXCITED.

Hair, hair, hair

Instead of studying for a midterm I have tomorrow, I'm researching my next hairstyle. Productive, I know.

A long time ago, I fell in love with the whole "ombre" trend, and wanted to hop on the wagon and get her done. Well, I got it done and it was a disaster. I won't go on about that whole experience, but let's just say that more than 90% of my head was blonde. Ombre=half. Do the math.

But despite my ultimate fail, or at least my hair dresser's ultimate fail, I'm still in love with the look, and want some sort of change to what I have now. Maybe not as dramatic of course, but something. I wish I could be blonde, but that's definitely not for me in this life.

So I want to keep the length although how cute are these cuts?

I'M LOVING THIS COLOR THOUGH!!!

But I don't think I can bring myself, like every person with long hair, to cut it. Sadly, maybe next year. But who am I kidding. 

So I think I just want to start off with some highlights. Nothing too crazy, but definitely noticeable.

I think it'll be the perfect transition for the summer in Winnipeg.

Spring Break 2014

I always do this. Blog about something and then go incognito for a week or two. I don't know why because I love blogging, or maybe because I don't know what to write about, OR the fact that I hardly take any pictures. Anyways, I'm trying my best to keep this thing an actual hobby but so far, I'll check the fail box and move on.

Last week was spring break and boy did I need it. It was a nice week off. The first few days I just worked and relaxed: pretty much enjoying the fact that I didn't have to read ANYTHING English/British/Theory related. The hubby and I were planning a little trip to San Diego but then we got word that we would close our house on Friday so we had to cancel because Ry needed to sign some docs that day. Well, Friday comes along and guess what? We don't close. I swear this house thing gets so close I can taste it, and then it's ripped away into oblivion. #ARRRRR.

After the news, we decided to salvage whatever else was planned and drive up to SD for a night. It was WELL worth it. We got in late, so we decided to watch a movie (Divergent) and grab a bite to eat. All I can say is that it did not live up to its hype. I read the book but didn't expect that they would pretty much change the entire movie. 


The next day we jetted to the beach and look who we found!



 

At La Jolla beach, there is an area where seals just take habitat. It was the coolest thing I've ever seen, and we were so close! There were little pups with their moms that was just the most beautiful sight.

As you know, I'm terrible at remembering to take pictures, thankfully Ryan got this one. But that's it. I'm working on it.



We ended the day by doing a little shopping and grabbing the best ice cream sandwiches I've ever had. If you're ever in the area, get them at The Baked Bear.

It was a great week.
Tomorrow, I go back to school. I'm ecstatic, can't you tell?

And the award for best parents goes to...

It doesn't help that I've seen Frozen about 10 times (literally) but this makes me love it that much more. Love is an open door. See what I did there... I'm just incredibly impressed with this couple and their awesome lip syncing skills. I wish I knew you good looking couple.

Watch it, because I'm probably watching it again, too.

HE>i

I had a pretty real defining moment today and realized that God has seriously blessed my life in so many ways. He has made me realize that I don't show/express any of it, and I don't praise Him enough.

We all say, we are blessed, God is good, God gives us everything, but after a while, it just starts to become something we say and not something we really truly think and feel about. Guilty. How can I be a person of God and not show my faith? We were talking about faith in church today. Faith is dead without actions. Well then I must be six feet under because I don't have many actions that go with my faith. That hit me hard today. I've been so wrapped up in the world and worrying about the most stupid things, I don't even see what God does for me on a daily basis. Just to name a few: he's given Ryan great and loyal real estate clients that have solely provided for our family so that we can live comfortably. He has showed me a wonderful home (The Crossing Church) that I finally feel like I belong to. I have nothing to be sorrowful about because he's always there. I mean, let's face it people, God is the best damn thing and I don't even realize it sometimes.

I guess I'm just saying I'm thankful. I'm so dang grateful for all that I have, my wonderful husband who shares my faith, and most importantly, the big man who made this all possible.
Now this is sounding like a grammy speech. But I FREAKING LOVE GOD and that's just all there is to it. No shame, no hiding. I need to stop being comfortable, and take that next step.

So my new mission statement is going to be: pray more, worry less. 

5 Things I Learned About Subbing

Holy moly. Just thinking about substitute teaching gives me a complex. OR maybe because I'm subbing right now. Who knows. Seriously, it can be the best/worst job of anyone's life. Lets face it, I don't like getting up at 5 am to then deal with over 180 students who don't want to be there just as much as you don't, but it has its perks. Definite perk: LOTS of homework gets done and why lie, lots of pointless research that has no relevance to my life gets done, too. Bad thing: there's only so much in this world I can research about, which lasts until about 3rd period. Then I want to do this,

and then this

Guess I can't complain if I get paid to take roll, assign some work or play a movie, and blog. #winning

A few things I've learned so far:

1. I'M THE FREAKING TEACHER. Yes, it sounds juvenile, I know. But it's seriously important to remember. I lay down the law right at the beginning of the period. Do not commit murder, do not commit adultery, love thy neighbor as thyself...Just kidding. It's the same old same old: don't talk while I'm talking, do your work, etc. I'm usually pretty lenient about phones/music/talking/etc, but if students aren't working, or they're trying to turn this class into a shindig, I'll assign them an essay. I've done it before and they hate it. BUT if you tell them that that's the consequence if they don't work, it's usually enough to scare them into working.

2. COMPUTERS ARE YOUR BESTFRIENDS. Obvious reasons. Go pointless research. Go pointless research. I can tell you everything about absolutely nothing. My laptop is my saving grace, but some schools will give you a guest teacher log in so you can use the teacher comp. It's teacher locked though meaning you pretty much can google a few things and read a lot of yahoo. It's better than nothing. Most schools don't give you a log in; probably because they don't want you sitting on your butt researching all day. Oh well. 

3. MULTIPLE DAY JOBS ARE A SLICE OF CAKE. I don't mean easy, I mean awesome. Some people don't enjoy doing the same class more than once, and I guess that's understandable if you have a terrible class that won't listen and you have to deal with them for days on days. Regardless, I love multiple day jobs because I get to know the students and the students get to know me. I mean, that's kind of a big reason why I love teaching. They know my expectations and I know what makes them work/not work. It's makes the rest of the days easy, and I like knowing what I'm doing day-to-day, rather than walking in blind. But that's just me. 

4. 1ST, 4TH (or 5TH), and 6TH PERIODS ARE BEST PREPS. 1st-obviously you get to come in later, and time to prep and breathe before students come in. 4th or 5th depending on what lunch you have. If you have 1st lunch, 4th is great because you get your 30 min lunch that goes right into your prep. That's pretty much an hour and a half lunch break. HEAVEN. Same goes for 2nd lunch and 5th period. 6th is always nice because you get to go home early. It's especially nice if you work high school, you're home by 12:30!

5. BE POSITIVE. ALWAYS. This probably should have been #1. But really, if you come into a classroom showing that you don't want to be there (even if you don't) and have a bad attitude towards the students, it's going to be a long and hard day. I've learned that when I greet the students, ask how their day is going, or crack a joke every now and then (A-A-RON NEVER gets old, let me tell you!) they are more likely to listen and less likely to be punks. I mean, how can they be mean to a funny teacher right? Most of the time anyways. You wouldn't believe it, but a smile goes a long way.

 

Couch Ahoy!

Tonight, we bought our official couch for our new house :) I don't have a picture of it exactly, but it looks pretty much like this but no chaise and in a cream-ish color. (It's in storage until we can move into our pad).



 

I know what you're thinking. Why in the heck would you buy a white (technically cream) couch with a slightly messy hubby and 3 dogs?! Well, let's just say it was too cute and WAY TOO comfortable to pass up. And because I spent my last class googling living room ideas with white couches and fell head over heals in love with the look. We'll sell it and buy a new one once the kids come around.

So far, I'm leaning toward the neutral grey/brownish rustic look.



 

BUT, then I came across designer Emily Henderson. She's amazing, and her designs are so fun and chic, it's hard to pass up. Her look is definitely geared toward the younger folk with bright colors and an airy feel. But what I love about her (after spending about 20 min just researching her), she ALWAYS uses a vintage piece in her work. So I can't decide just yet and thankfully, I've got some time to sort out my own issues.

Some of Em's work:



 

AH! It just makes me tingle looking at some of her designs. I'm having a complex.