Weekend Shenanigans

This week is officially the start of my summer vacation. Technically I have to go to work today and tomorrow to pack up my classroom, but the children are already gone so I don't really mind being there. It may be Monday (which we all hate), but today I am going to focus on the only two positive things about Mondays. #1: I get to link up with Sami and share my weekend with y'all. #2: A new episode of The Bachelorette tonight, which means tall glasses of wine and group texting with my girls :)

For the past 3 years, we have started a new girls' tradition in my family. Each year on the weekend that I get out of school, my mom and I drive south and my aunt drives north to meet up at the beach for the weekend. The first two years we stayed in Vero Beach, but now that my mom has a condo in New Smyrna Beach, we went there this year. 

Lunch at a fun restaurant right on the beach - Chases on the Beach

We had a fabulous weekend lounging on the beach and relaxing. Can't wait until next year!

This was the perfect way to begin my summer vacation! Have a great week :)

Weekend Shenanigans

I would hardly call my activities this weekend anything remotely close to "shenanigans", but alas here we are linking up anyways. I hope that everyone had a fabulous first weekend of June. Of course it is already hotter than Hades and raining here in Florida, but June means that school is almost over so this girl is beyond pumped.

This weekend I...

Had a girls' night out with the ladies of my church small group! We had a fun little happy hour at Yes, You Canvas! painting these lovely masterpieces. 

Dance was always my art form y'all...never painting. But a little painting, great friends and some wine always makes for a good time. 

Jared and I found a brewery right down the road from our house. Apparently, it has been there for about a year and a half and I never even knew about it!!! It's a great local dive and needless to say, I already love it. Guess I know where I'll be spending my summer :) Mile Marker Brewing

Have a great week! Only 4 days of school left for me until glorious summer vacation!

Mash-Up Monday

It's Monday people...but at least it is a holiday week which means days off of work! I only have to survive 2 days of work this week and then I am off for 6 days in a row, yippie! I have a lot of topics planned for this week that I want to write about, but you know I always have to do my weekly brain dump on Monday morning before I can get to writing about the good stuff.

1. Jared and I are hosting Thanksgiving this year and I am pretty nervous excited about it. We will have at least 14 (maybe a few more) people eating at our house for this occasion and we have a pretty tiny house. It will be a tight squeeze, but I'm glad that everyone is going to be there. In fact, I had to go to Pottery Barn yesterday and buy a few more dishes to match our set because we don't own enough plates to feed all these people at one time. And I refuse to allow my guests to eat Thanksgiving dinner on paper plates or mismatching dishes.

This is what my Thanksgiving table is going to look like. Not. Dare to dream. Unfortunately, I do not live in the Pottery Barn catalog like I wish I did so this is not my reality. When I win the lottery, I am hiring Pottery Barn to come decorate my house for every holiday. 

2. Did anyone watch the Sunday night NFL game last night ? It was the Steelers vs. someone. I honestly can't remember who they were playing because I was so distracted the entire time by the Steelers and their heinous uniforms. They looked like prisoners. I know that a lot of teams have been doing special throwback uniforms throughout the season, but the Steelers definitely should have left those uniforms in whatever decade they came from.

Seriously Pittsburgh? You look stupid. 

3. If there is a Jersey Mike's where you live and you have never been before...Go. Now. Their subs are so delicious...more delicious than any sub I have ever had in my life. I wish I was eating one right now.

4. Women of the world...does your husband/boyfriend/significant other participate in this "No Shave November" nonsense? I get that it is for Prostate Cancer Awareness, but us poor girls have to suffer all month long because of this. Thankfully, my husband can actually grow a beard pretty well and not look completely ridiculous so I guess I really don't have much to complain about. If he was one of those men who's facial hair grows in weird patches and such, this would not be happening. Honestly though, do you want to know my real reasoning for allowing him to participate in "No Shave November"? Two years ago was the first time he participated and FSU beat UF for the first time in 6 years. Last year, we beat them again and the beard was there. So now I am superstitious. I just know that if I don't let him grow the beard and we lose to UF then the loss is going to be blamed on me because I didn't let him grow the damn beard. So on Saturday we will be traveling to Tallahassee for the FSU vs. UF game, full beard ready to go. Let's just hope it brings my Seminoles as much good luck as I believe it does.

5. I promise that this is the first and last time I will ever talk about Twilight on my blog. Promise. I saw the final Twilight movie yesterday with my sister-in-law and mother-in-law. I must say that I was pleasantly surprised by how good it was. I read the Twilight saga back in college simply because everyone was doing it and I love to read so when people starting going crazy over a book I just have to read it and see what the big deal is. The books were alright...not really terrible, but definitely not on my list of favorites. I seriously disliked the 4th book, Breaking Dawn. It just seemed to go on forever, never-ending, and when I did finally get to end, I was disappointed. I distinctly remember getting to the last page of the book and thinking to myself, "that's it?". When the movies started coming out, I would go see them simply because I felt like I read the books so I needed to see the movies. The first movie was pretty good, but all the ones after that were just bad. Therefore, going into this movie yesterday I was not expecting much. I hated the second half of this book and the last three movies were nothing great...so my expectations were low. However, they really did a good job with this movie. I must say that it was a pretty good end to the saga. Two random Twilight-related thoughts and then I will never speak of it again on the blog...#1 Kristen Stewart looks so much better as a vampire. Pale and natural (like in the all the other movies) is not a good look for her. #2 How on Earth could anyone be Team Edward? Taylor Lautner is so ridiculously good looking. The choice is obvious.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday!

Mash-Up Monday

No work for me today. Thank you Veterans! I think I will spend my day off cleaning, organizing and getting things ready for the work week. Sounds pretty exciting right?

1. I feel bad for Thanksgiving. It is seriously the most neglected holiday ever. This makes me particularly angry because it is one of my favorite holidays. I feel like I am the only person that actually decorates for Thanksgiving. It seems like as soon as Halloween is over, everyone puts out their Christmas decorations. Hello?! Thanksgiving hasn't even happened yet, how can it be Christmas already? I understand that the malls and stores are going to decorate for Christmas early, I get that. But that is just because they want to one-up each other with their holiday sales and not really care about celebrating the holiday itself. I absolutely refuse to decorate for Christmas until Thanksgiving is officially over. One holiday at a time people.

2. Sometimes I wonder about people. Like did your mama teach you any manners? Obviously not. Maybe it's just because I have Southern values, but I'm pretty sure that it is frowned upon to talk about certain topics in mixed company or in the workplace. Those of you who work in an environment where everyone takes lunch or breaks together probably understand this all too well. In case your mama did not teach you this, allow me to enlighten you. If you and you co-workers only have say 30 minutes per day to relax and enjoy your lunch (like I do), you should probably stay away from topics such as race, religion and politics. Especially when you know good and well that a portion of the people sitting around you have different views than you do. Now, I have absolutely no problem with discussing such topics intelligently. However, there is a time and a place for everything. During my very short lunch break is not the time. If you think that Obama is wonderful, then that's great and I'm glad that you are happy with the job he has done, but I don't want to listen to you go on and on incessantly for 30 minutes about how amazing he is while I'm trying to enjoy my lunch...especially when you know that half the people sitting around you can't stand him. Just like I would never talk about how much I don't like him in mixed company because I know that some people would be offended. It's common courtesy and some of us actually have manners.

3. So my three favorite men in country music got together and wrote a song. It's magical. You may have seen them perform it recently on the CMA Awards, but now it is being played on the radio and every time I hear it I melt a little on the inside. Dear God, please let them make a music video for this. Until then, we can enjoy their CMA Awards performance...

    

4. How intense was that Alabama vs. Texas A&M game on Saturday? Holy cow. I'm secretly kind of happy that A&M won the game because at the beginning of the season all the other SEC fans were talking crap about how they don't belong in the SEC and such...well, how 'bout them apples? It was a great game and I think they deserved the win. So my best friend and I absolutely love Dolly Parton and one of our all time favorite Dolly Parton movies is "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas", staring her and Burt Reynolds. If you have never seen it, go rent it now. Obviously the movie is about a brothel which is named "the chicken ranch" and at one point in the movie there is a tradition that if the Texas A&M football team wins this big Thanksgiving game, then they get to make a visit to the chicken ranch. There is a ridiculous song and dance number that accompanies the big win and on Saturday night when the Aggies beat Bama, all I could think about was this scene from the movie...

(Warning: this clip contains brief shots of some naked-man-butts. If you don't want to see that, then skip the first minute of the clip. You have been warned. Sorry for the naughtiness on the blog today.)

 

Now I'm really in the mood to watch this entire movie...I just love a good 80's movie. In case you have never seen it, here's a little "trailer" for it so you can see what you are missing out on. Happy Monday!

Sorry about the unnecessary number of YouTube videos on my post today. Hope you weren't trying to read this at work. If so, you might want to delete your browsing history on your work computer now :)

Mash-Up Monday

I have started to realize that I have recently been getting away from actually writing on this blog and I mostly just post pictures. I'll be honest with you, posting pictures is quick and easy and I'm a busy woman. However, if I don't ever write anything down then I guess this isn't technically a blog. I'm trying to get back to the original purpose of writing this blog, so I promise to start adding some more of my entertaining thoughts back to it.

Currently, my brain feels like a pile of mush. I am thinking that I really just need to get rid of all the crap that is bouncing around in my head; then maybe I'll be able to focus on some intelligent thoughts...maybe not. Alas, this calls for a Mash-Up Monday. Please excuse my completely random and unrelated thoughts for this blog post today.

1. I have a love/hate relationship with football. Don't get me wrong I love football. I love watching football and I love all that football season entails. However, I hate how football season completely takes over my life for 4 solid months of the year. Every weekend in the fall is dedicated to football, and while I do love going to Tallahassee and having football tailgates/parties, it would be nice to do something different. There are so many other fun things to do in the fall, but I always miss out on them because of football. I would love to go camping or up to the mountains or even just to the pumpkin patch, but for the last 9 weekends in a row it has been football, football, football. This is nothing new...by November I am always sick of football, but then March rolls around and I'm counting down the days until the next football season.

2. I am obsessed with Taylor Swift's new album Red. Even though all her songs are about single girl, heartbreak, man drama which I cannot relate to because I am married and I never had the experience of dating a complete douchebag...I still like her music. One thing that still confuses me about her though...if you are only 22 years old and able to fill 4 full albums with songs about guys treating you badly, when do you start wondering, maybe it's me? Just a thought. Nonetheless, she can write one hell of a catchy tune.

3. This presidential election is OUT OF CONTROL. And that is all I am going to say about that. Go out and vote and please God, let this be over.

4. I am so glad that Halloween is over. I am so glad that I don't have to look at ugly Halloween decorations all over everyone's houses anymore. I never decorate our house for Halloween. I put up fall decorations, but nothing "Halloween" themed. Let's be honest, no one's home decor is enhanced by giant spiders or dead bodies. Gross.

5. Why is pumpkin flavored everything so amazing? I feel like making a "pumpkin" version of something in the fall automatically guarantees that people are going to buy it. The majority of things that come in pumpkin flavor for the fall are mostly of the coffee/dessert persuasion which I don't like, but pumpkin beer is my favorite. I've noticed that it is starting to disappear from the shelves now and it is being replaced with the winter seasonal ales. Rude. Can't we just have the flavors of fall year round? Please :)

6. I watch way too much television. I come home from work/volleyball practice and watch TV on the couch with my husband until we go to bed. Then, I watch football on TV all weekend. I'm starting to think that my brain cells are slowly dying from all this TV intake. I've decided that I'm going to go buy a new book this week and get back into reading.

7. Have you noticed all the insane colors/patterns that duct tape comes in now? Whatever happened to plain silver duct tape? Why couldn't I have been the genius that thought to make duct tape in different colors? That person is making bank now.

8. Since I am Teacher of the Year at my school, I get my own parking spot. Unfortunately, this parking spot is more of a curse than a blessing. The spot is right in front of the school; however, I always have to jump through hoops to try and actually park in it. No matter what time I get to school in the morning, someone is always blocking my spot. Parents dropping off kids, co-workers clocking in, and district maintenance people all pull up and park temporarily behind my spot. They aren't blocking the entire lane of traffic, but they are always positioned behind my spot just enough so that I am unable to swing my SUV out enough to make it in between the shrubbery and my principal's car. So I either have to circle the parking lot over and over again waiting for people to move or attempt to park which results in me having to pull in and out of the spot like 6 times in order to get it in there straight without hitting anything. The icing on the cake...there is a perfectly good "drop off loop" a mere 20 feet beyond this area that everyone seems to have deemed a parking spot. Ultimately, I end up being super irritated every morning before I even walk in the door at work.   

9. Today is my friend, Christina McGuire's birthday! She also just delivered her first baby, Ava, on Friday night! She has had a pretty big week and I hope she has a wonderful day with her little girl. Happy Birthday Christina!

Mash-Up Monday

My house/life/brain is literally a disaster area. Therefore, today calls for a brain dump...and then I have to clean my house...gross. So here are my random thoughts for Monday...

1. I need to clean my house. I need to clean my house. I need to clean my house. I am currently sitting on the couch watching TLC. I will clean my house later.

2. I love driving Jared's truck. It makes me feel powerful. However, I hate taking it to the gas station to fill it up. There is usually 1-2 pumps that have diesel fuel at them and like 10 other pumps that have regular gas. If your car does not take diesel, please do not block the diesel pump. If you are blocking the only diesel pump, don't get offended when I pull my giant truck up right behind your car looking pissed. You're lucky that I don't run your tiny car over with my F-250 to make room at the diesel pump.

3. Over the past week, my Diet Coke intake has been out of control. In times of crisis, Diet Coke makes me feel calm...even though it has caffeine? I know, so logical.

4. Usually by this time in the summer I am ready to go back to work...not so much this year. Can I just be a stay at home wife forever?

5. I absolutely love watching the Olympics. Last night was some prime-time Olympic goodness. I can't believe that the men got silver in the 100m relay. I definitely have a love/hate relationship with Ryan Lochte. Yes, he is adorable and a great swimmer, but he went to UF...gross. Plus, I think that the gold would have been ours if Phelps had been the anchor for that relay. Either way, as long as the US is winning medals, I'm happy. Additionally, watching women's gymnastics makes me have mild panic attacks. I catch myself literally holding my breath during their routines because I am so nervous for them. I was absolutely shocked that Jordyn Wieber didn't qualify for the all-around competition. She is my favorite. I think it is ridiculous that only 2 women from each country can compete in the all-around. It should be the best 24 gymnasts, no matter what countries they are from. I can't wait to watch the US kick butt in women's gymnastics in the finals.

6. I cannot imagine my life without dogs. They always makes you feel better simply because they love you no matter what. When you are sad/lonely/tired/whatever, they don't talk, and they don't want anything in return, they just quietly snuggle up to you and make you feel instantly comforted.

7. I need a vacation. Like a do nothing, see no one, lay on the beach drinking fruity cocktails kind of vacation.

8. I need to start going to the gym again. Maybe tomorrow...

I promise that my blogs will start getting more interesting again soon.

Mash-Up Monday

I tend to always have an abundance of random thoughts to ramble about on Mondays, so I'm glad that Mrs. Monologues created this link-up for people like me. Here is my mash-up of thoughts for your reading pleasure on this lovely Monday...

Celebrities

Hearts are breaking all over the world because Miley Cyrus is officially engaged to Liam Hemsworth. What a lucky girl. I know that people are giving her crap about getting engaged so young, but really, who cares. I got engaged when I was 21 and people say things to me all the time about getting married so young. Hey, when you know, you know, and if she knows that he's the right guy, then good for her.

Kate Middleton is my favorite celebrity in the entire world. She is the epitome of class and style. I would wear absolutely everything in her closet and I am just in awe of her. 

Television

I broke one of my own rules. I swore that I would never watch The Bachelorette, but my sister-in-law moved in with us and talked me into watching it with her last week. The worst part is...I hate to admit that I actually enjoyed it. Gross. I have only watched one episode of the show this season and I already want to push that Ryan guy off of a cliff. He sucks. I hope she gets rid of him tonight. But I'm sure she won't because he's probably good for the show's ratings. However, if she hasn't figured out by now that he is a terrible person, then she is an idiot. 

50 Shades of Grey

I spent this past weekend at the beach. Everywhere I looked, women were reading this book. On the beach, at the pool...women from 18 to 80 had their noses buried in 50 Shades of Grey. I'm only like half way through the first book and I guess it's pretty good. It keeps my attention and it's easy to read, but the writing is absolutely terrible. This women needs to fire her editor. I keep finding glitches in her story and character development, not to mention, the grammar is heinous. Maybe if I just suck it up and finish the book, then I'll end up enjoying it in the end. We'll see. 

Sports

I was very sad that I'll Have Another didn't get to run in the Belmont Stakes for the Triple Crown. However, the horse that I was cheering for (Union Rags) did end up winning the race! Apparently, I'm good at picking race horses. The woman that owned the winning horse was so adorable. When they showed her at the end of the race, my heart melted. I was so happy for her. 

The Miami Heat won on Saturday night. I really could care less about basketball, especially with those two teams. Double gross. However, I was hanging out with my aunt that night and she likes Miami so I'm glad that her team won. 

The only sporting event that I really care about right now is FSU baseball. They are doing really good so far...they are Omaha bound now and I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that they do well in the College World Series. 

Summer

I have two days of work left (post-planning days) and then I am officially on summer break. I have tons of things I want to accomplish around the house, books I want to read, etc. over the summer. I guess it's time to starting making another summer bucket list!