Stephanie

Happy Birthday to ME!

2008-12-07T10:34:00.005-06:00

Yes, yes...I'm officially O-L-D! Thirty was never supposed to come, but it has and I guess I'll deal with it! I did however have a wonderful birthday, which I celebrated with my friends Clarissa & Jason, Jenn, Sheri & her husband Chuck. Unfortunately, others weren't able to make it due to family obligations, illness or office Christmas parties, but that's to be expected when your birthday is in December. Damn Christmas wins every time! lol

Anyway, Corey & Clarissa cooked up a surprise dinner at Kobe Japanese Steakhosue downtown in Nashville where we had a wonderful hibatchi dinner. I was surprised to see my friends waiting for me when we got there. I'm so glad they were able to come!!

After dinner, Clarissa, Jason, Corey and I headed over to Opry Mills to find a parking place in order to go to the Opryland Hotel and see the Christmas decorations. Corey & I hunted for a parking place for literally 30 minutes! It was INSANE how busy the mall and Opryland were! We finally managed to find a spot and we met Clarissa & Jason inside the hotel. The decorations were beautiful and we snapped some great photos!

All in all, I had a wonderful birthday and I'm glad I could spend it with such good friends. I took a video of our hibatchi experience as well as some fun photos of our night! Enjoy!

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

Let the Birthday Dinners Begin!

2008-11-30T21:33:00.003-06:00

My birthday is December 6. I will be turning - gulp - THIRTY! This day was NEVER supposed to come...it's all downhill from here! hehe

Luckily I have a great bunch of friends and family who celebrate all month long with me! On Thanksgiving my parents surprised me with gifts, which was awesome! Then, on Friday we met up with some friends at Buffalo Wild Wings for wings and beers. Dusty and her family gave me a beautiful hand-crafted necklace from her home studio. Click HERE to check out more of her beautiful pieces. After dinner, Corey and I went to Best Buy to pick out my new iPod! Of course I had to get the orange one - DUH! I have played with it all weekend!

Saturday night, Corey's parents came to Murfreesboro to take us to dinner for my birthday. We went to Five Senses. If you have never been, I HIGHLY suggest you go for your next "special event." It is pretty pricey, but delicious! We started with the always yummy cheese & olive platter, then unique salads using local lettuces, and for the main course I had filet with mashed potatoes and caramelized onions and mushrooms, for dessert Corey and I had an upside-down pear cake and coffee. That was the best dinner I have had yet from Five Senses. We have been 3 times now and it's totally worth the money! To top off the evening, Corey's parents gave me a check to help out with paying for the iPod and a beautiful necklace and earrings set. His brother's family gave me iTunes gift cards, so I've been racking up the music all weekend! My new favorite is the "Single Ladies" song by Beyonce. I've been going around the house all weekend singing, "...if you like it then you shoulda put a ring on it!" It's my new jam! ha!

Corey also got me some cheddar and caramel mix popcorn from Garrett Popcorn in Chicago. This is THE BEST popcorn you will ever douse with saliva! Trust...

I am looking forward to seeing what my students do for my birthday. Each year they all try to out-do each other with pictures and homeade gifts. They are too funny!

It's supposed to snow some this week, so bring it on! That will be a lovely pre-birthday gift as well! I'll keep you updated on what happens on my actual birthday! Should be good times...

Have a lovely week!

Thanksgiving Dinner

2008-11-30T21:24:00.006-06:00

On Thursday, my mom made a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner - or lunch - or whatever you want to call it. We ate around 2:00. We had all the usual goodies: stuffing, turkey, ham, escalloped corn, sweet potato casserole, green beans, gravy, pies, cake, you name it! I took a few pictures of the family just hanging out waiting to eat...or sneaking a bite.

It was nice to see my parents and my grandpa. Corey and I trade off years for Thanksgiving and Christmas on the actual day with our families. This year is my year and it's always more special to see my family on the actual holiday. We stayed with them from Wednesday to Friday. We enjoyed our extended vacation away from school!

Monthly Dinner Menu: December

2008-11-30T11:31:00.005-06:00

This month is going to be crazy with all we have to do for school (my birthday, programs, Corey's grad school, parties, etc...) so the menu is a little less planned, but we'll still eat! I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas - or whatever you celebrate - and a happy New Year! I'm ready for summer!
(Please click on the menu to enlarge)

New Toy!

2008-11-28T16:51:00.004-06:00

Yeah, I know...I'm a bad blogger. My mother has already chastized me!

Anyway, my birthday is coming up soon, and this week while I was home for Thanksgiving, my parents and grandpa decided to surprise me with birthday gifts! That's always a plus! My parents gave me some cute orange bracelets, a snowman t-shirt and my new favorite orange toy: a FLIP! This one is mine! And, I also recieved a snazzy little carrying case with it!

I'll post more about Turkey Day later, but I wanted to share my first video experience with you! This is a video of my mom and my grandpa right after Thanksgiving dinner. My grandpa is TOO stinkin' cute!

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

Monthly Dinner Menu: November

2008-11-02T12:41:00.003-06:00

Happy Thanksgiving!

Feel Sorry for ME!

2008-10-22T19:22:00.003-05:00

I am sick. I have strep throat. I'm sure one of my twenty-two darling dears in 4th grade gave it to me. They are so generous like that!!! They are REALLY good at sharing!

I did go to work the day I was pretty sure I had it and then confirmed it with a strep test at the dr.'s office last night. Luckily, today I was scheduled for a meeting at the county office, so I didn't have to actually teach. I got to sit on my butt all day, after sleeping in, taking my time getting ready and even had time to take a long relaxing lunch! AND the best part was getting home by 3:00! That NEVER happens! So, I guess being sick this time had it's rewards.

I know I've been a bad blogger, but I really don't care. I have been SOOOOOOOOOOOOO extremely busy with school that I just don't have time. And, nothing exciting has happened in my life - other than buying a new refrigerator - that I didn't want to bore you with mundane life. You're welcome :-)

On a side note, my friend is having a Murder Mystery party at her house this weekend for Halloween and I couldn't be more excited about going. I'm playing the part of the Maid of Honor in this wedding catastrophe! Perhaps I can get some awesome pictures and actually blog about that!!

What about you? Do any of you have any exciting Halloween plans? What are you or your kids dressing up as?

Monthly Dinner Menu: October

2008-10-05T19:58:00.002-05:00

Say It Isn't So!

2008-09-23T18:46:00.004-05:00

Can I just say that I (along with the rest of the world) am SHOCKED that Clay Gaykin, oops I mean Aiken is G-A-Y! And by shocked I mean how the hell have you lived on planet Earth and NOT known he was gay?!

Ladies, the Claymates must die now - he's strictly dickly. Let the record show...

Monthly Dinner Menu

2008-09-01T08:53:00.002-05:00

Adopt a Classroom!

2008-08-31T17:24:00.004-05:00

MINE!!!

Today, I joined Adopt a Classroom, which is a website where donors can "adopt" my classroom by donating money to my account. I have already received a donation from my generous in-laws, but was hoping by posting this on my blog a reader might take pity on my poor classroom and adopt me! I would love to use the donations for technology, general classroom supplies (i.e. folders, paper, markers, pencils, etc...),books, teaching aids and whatnot.

My school is considered Title I, which basically means that over 50% of the students are on free or reduced lunch. I teach in a low-income area of Rutherford County where parents often cannot afford to send their children with the basic school supplies needed for the year. In turn, I spend money out of my own pocket to cover those needed supplies. I'm not trying to pull out a sob story, but every little bit helps and would be tremendously appreciated!

If you are interested in adopting my classroom, please click on the icon below and it will take you to my homepage. Thanks a bunch!!

Monthly Dinner Menu: August

2008-08-09T10:28:00.001-05:00

Better late than never!

I have been to Hell...

2008-08-03T20:59:00.003-05:00

I just wanted to let you all know that I have been to Hell. Actually, I have been to Hell twice this week.

One visit involves a 96 degree day and an un-air conditioned wedding and reception.

The other involves a Chinese Buffet restaurant (and if you know me you KNOW I hate Chinese food AND buffets), a karaoke performance, and school inservice.

It's going to take me a while to get the story just where I want it and provide you with video, yes, video from the occasion and all the fitting details. So, you'll have to be patient and wait for my creation. Trust me...it's worth it...

Meet Jackson!

2008-08-03T20:46:00.004-05:00

My bestie, Clarissa and her family just welcomed Jackson Garrett home last week. I was lucky enough to go visit him, so I wanted to post a couple of pics! He is such a good baby and he has a wonderful family to call his own! I'm glad his mommy is doing better and she can hopefully get some rest!

Clarissa's dog, Jazzy, was not content with a photo of just Jackson and me. She had to get in on the action, too!

Corey's Birthday

2008-08-03T20:21:00.003-05:00

Corey's birthday was July 24. As most of you know, we went to Pigeon Forge for part of his gift. His celebration lasted a whole week!

The Saturday before the big day, his parents and brother, sister-in-law, and neice came to town to eat dinner at The Five Senses. We had a wonderful and tasty dinner and drank a LOT of wine!! After dinner, Corey went to Best Buy to get his Zune. He has wanted one for a while, so that's been his new toy. I also got him a new pair of earphones since he broke his old ones. Good job...

When we came back from DollyWood on Corey's actual birthday, we stopped by my parents house and all went to dinner at Gondola. Corey loves their pizza! He and my dad always get the House Special and a pitcher of beer. They are drunk buddies! Hehe!

On the Saturday after his birthday, we went to dinner at Fuji Japanese Steakhouse.
We had a good time with our friends Ken & Becca, Phil & Dusty, and Shad and Marsha. After dinner, we came back for cake and ice cream!

I'm glad the festivities are over - they have worn me out! Now let's get to planning MY birthday!! Hahah!

Here are some pics from the "friend" dinner:

Dolly Wood

2008-08-03T20:10:00.004-05:00

I know you have all been anxiously awaiting the fabulous photos from DollyWood. I'm such a bad blogger. Sorry!

We had a wonderful time in Pigeon Forge! Corey had a great birthday (which I will post about, too) and we will have good memories for a long time! Especially about how freaking soaked we got riding the "Slidewinder," which we DO NOT recommend. We seriously almost flipped twice!! Too bad we didn't get any great pictures of us looking like drowned rats! Ha!!

Anyway, here are some of the better photos we had from our trip. Apparently, Photobucket is being a piece of crap lately and will NOT upload my pics or do a slideshow. So, you get the myspace version instead. It does not let me arrange anything, so you'll just have to use your imagination and if you have questions, just ask me...

Pigeon Forge

2008-07-22T20:50:00.003-05:00

Corey and I made it to Pigeon Forge today to begin our vacation. We got here at about 1:00 and checked into our hotel. Of course, the room we had reserved wasn't available because the air conditioner was broken. So, Corey demanded we be compensated and they "upped" our room to a suite with a jacuzzi and fireplace. Now, when I say it's a suite, I mean it's the same size room as any other, they just crammed a bunch of extra crap in here with a big tub and a hole in the wall with some logs in it. However, we have a fridge, so I'm ok with that.

We ate lunch at a place called the Flying Horse. It was pretty good, but expensive. We both enjoyed our meals. After lunch, we went to the outlet mall and I hit up the Coach Outlet where I found only ONE orange mini-wallet on sale, so of course I had to get it! I also may or may not have done some Christmas shopping...

We went up to Gatlinburg and it was BUSY! We didn't even get out of the car. Just drove the strip up and down and tried not to run over anybody. We've both been there before, so we really didn't feel like we were missing anything by not walking the strip. On the way back, we got stuck in dead-stop traffic and then a giant rain storm! It took us an hour to get down the mountain, which should have only taken about 5 - 10 minutes, all due to about 6 orange cones and a lane closure. BOO!

We came back to the hotel and had a couple of flashes of power outages. I'm glad we weren't in the elevator!

We decided to brave the hurricane like weather and head to a local brewery for dinner. Corey got a pizza and I had a calzone. They were both pretty tasty. By the time we left the rains had stopped and we were able to walk around in the little prominade mall area outside the restaurant. Corey found a fudge shoppe and decided to get a little bit of peanut butter fudge. I had the teeniest-tiniest piece and that will probably be all I have...I'm not a fudge fan.

Tomorrow, we are supposed to go to DollyWood and the weather is supposed to be pretty rainy. So, if you have any pull with the weather "Gods" please ask them to take pity on us tomorrow...

Welcome Baby Jackson!

2008-07-22T20:46:00.004-05:00

My bestie, Clarissa and her hubby, Jason had their second child today. A son named Jackson Garrett. He was over 9 POUNDS! Geez! I can't wait to meet him! He's going to have a wonderful family to come home to! And I'm sure his big sister Caraline will be very helpful to her mommy!

Congrats to Clarissa and the fam!

On another note, my friend Katie also had her twins today. From what I hear, they each weighed in at over 6 pounds. Congrats to Katie and her hubby - their dream has finally come true!!!

Jack Daniel's

2008-06-30T16:09:00.001-05:00

On Monday, Corey and I FINALLY made it to the Jack Daniel's Distillery in Lynchburg, TN. We have been trying to take this day trip for years! Literally! I bet we've planned to go at least seven or eight times in the last nine years and something always came up. We were glad to finally be able to make it down there!

There was a wonderful aroma as soon as we stepped on the grounds; almost "yeast-y" if you will. And the further we got on the tour, the more intense and "Jack Like" it became!

The scenery was just too beautiful to describe and everything was centered around the spring that gives Jack's whisky that smooth and unique taste!

The tour was absolutely FREE and was WAY more interesting than many of the tours we've paid for and taken in the past! If you ever get a chance to go - do!!! However, don't expect to taste any of Jack's tasty treat becasue Lynchburg is a D-R-Y town! The only tasting you get is lemonaide at the end of the tour! However, you can buy a bottle of Jack and take it home.

Enjoy the slideshow below. You'll need to move your mouse over the pictures to get them to stop so you can read the captions.

Monthly Dinner Menu: July

2008-06-29T12:17:00.004-05:00

I would love it if you have any great recipes you'd like to share! Maybe I'll add them to August's menu...

I've Been Tagged!

2008-06-24T16:47:00.003-05:00

Here are the rules:
a. Link to the person who tagged you.
b. Post the rules on your blog.
c. Write six random things about yourself.
d. Tag six random people at the end of your post by linking to their blog.
e. Let each person know they’ve been tagged by leaving a comment at their blog.
f. Let your tagger know when your entry is up.

Here are the 6 things about ME:
1. I am organized in every aspect of my life. Like, obsessed and anal. My closet is in color order from light to dark. My cabinets at school have tubs with labels on them and I enjoy scheduling things.
2. My food cannot touch! I HATE it when my green beans touch my mashed potatoes, in which case I will create a barrier and not eat the green bean or small row of mashed potatoes because they are now tainted.
3. I am obsessed with the color orange! I feel like it represents me. It is loud and obnoxious, which is just about what I am. I have orange things all over my house and even my cell phone and car are orange - yet, I am NOT a UT fan. I hate when people make that assumption...
4. I get irritated when people take liberties. I understand that most people are just trying to help in certain situations, but for the most part, if I wanted it that way, I would have done it! This especially applies to substitute teachers and students! lol
5. I CANNOT stand worms or ants or anything that is slightly similar (i.e. snakes, termites, etc...) the thought of going outside to stand in the yard and *possibly* having an ant crawl on my foot terrifies me! AND, I HATE the way it smells after it rains a lot and the worms come out. I promise you I can smell them!
6. I love my job. Most of the time. Everybody has their ups and downs, but I honestly don't know what else I was meant to do! Please remind me that I said this when it's the middle of August and I'm talking about how much I hate school - especially starting a new year!!!!

That's it! Now I tag:
Clarissa
Katie
Dustin
Stacey
Michelle
Alyson
Oh, and Dusty tagged me...

Bad, Bad Blogger...

2008-06-22T20:29:00.010-05:00

I know all 3 of my loyal readers have been anxiously awaiting my newest blog! I apologize - I've been a horrible blogger. I have been so busy with summer school and running around that I've neglected to update. So, here's the quick and dirty version of what I've been up to:

1.) I've been going to Water Aerobics at the YMCA on Tuesday and Thursday nights. I LOVE it!! And if you know me, you KNOW that I HATE to exercise with a passion - mostly because I HATE to sweat! However, water aerobics kicks ass because you still get a work out, but it's comfortable and you don't sweat to death. Also, I have issues with getting ready to go get dirty and then having to get clean again. I have been going to the 6-7 class, so I just come home and get ready for bed. And I am SOOOO ready for bed when I get home. I wear myself out! Also, if anybody wants to come with me, you are welcome! June is bring a friend month. I'm only 2 more friends away from a FREE YMCA water bottle!! Ha! Joanne went with me and we had a super time!

2.) I went home to visit my parents for what we refer to as the "triple threat" i.e. their anniversary, my dad's birthday, and Father's Day, which all take place during the same week. Talk about a lot going on! Anyway, I went home to visit for a few days and had a great time. My mom and I went to the movies to see What Happens In Vegas. It was cute. Predictable, but cute. We also went shopping and I purchased a cute Tommy Hilfiger swingpack to take with me when we go to DollyWood later this summer. Sorry, but I'm not dragging the Coach bag on a water ride! Hell no!
I also went over to my grandpa's house to pick some cherries and apples from his trees. He has a small orchard on his property next to his GIANT garden. I took some pictures because I thought the fruit was pretty hanging from its branches. I can't wait until the squash is ready so I can "fry up a mess!"

3.) I have been super busy with teaching summer school. Monday through Friday I have been at school from 7:15 until 11:30 or later trying to come up with activities that will enrich and extend what these kids already know. God, I'm so ready for it to be over! I'm so jealous of all my other teacher friends who have been enjoying their summer for almost a month now! I only have 4 more days left...I can do this!

Hopefully, the custodians will wax my room immediately after summer school is over so I can get back in and set it up again. Of course, I will end up spending the rest of my summer at school, but I enjoy getting organized and cleaned up. My room needs it!

4.) This is still school related, but I felt the need to give it a new number...
On the way to the cafeteria from my classroom, we pass through a breezeway. Well, during the summer, the birds seem to think they own the place and build TONS of nests. They really are more of a pest than they are cute, but this week the babies hatched and they really are adorable! I took a couple of "fuzzy" pictures because I didn't want to get too close and have the mamma bird get pissed and poke my eyes out! You've seen The Birds, right? That's some scary shit, Mr. Hitchcock...

5.) I've been watching lots of TV. I love me some reality television! I'm hooked on So You Think You Can Dance! Love me some Joshua! He's so sweet and versitile with his dancing.
Right now, we're watching The Next Food Network Star, which is ok, but not as exciting as last season's.
I'm really ready for the new Big Brother 10!!! It starts on the 13th and I'll be all over that!

I guess that's all I've been up to in the past few weeks. I'm ready to have more free time. Corey will be finished with his summer portion of his Master's program on Friday, so we'll be able to spend more time with each other. And by that I mean try not to kill each other :-)

Until next time...

FIRE!!

2008-06-09T20:16:00.004-05:00

I almost forgot to blog about the most eventful thing that happened today: a fire.

Just as we were dismissing the students from Summer School, the house right in front of our school caught on fire. At first we thought someone was just burning brush, but it turned out to be WAY more than that! At least 3 fire engines came to put out the blaze. Of course, the kids thought it was the coolest thing they had ever seen in their lives...

It was so sad to watch the dreams and lives of these poor, helpless people just burn up right in front of them. One of the kids that lives there is a student at my school. Sad.

I hope everyone was able to get out alright. I believe they did, but I'm sure it was a VERY scary moment for everyone involved.

Corey and I came home one night after eating dinner, to find 3 fire engines in our front yard - along with the rest of the ENTIRE neighborhood!!! Talk about having the shheeet scared out of you! Lucky for us, it was the house across from us that had caught on fire - unlucky for them. However, they were eventually able salvage the frame and rebuild the house. They got bigger and badder stuff in it, too...We can see their GIANT flat screen TV mounted on their living room wall when their front door is open. Of course, if my house burning down was the only way I could get that TV, I would definitely choose another option! They deserve it with all they went through...

I wouldn't wish that type of catastrophe on anyone!

Sprucing up and the YMCA...

2008-06-09T18:41:00.004-05:00

First off, I changed some stuff around on here. I got tired of looking at everybody's blog to see if they had updated anything everyday, so I added a blog roll that will update me when someone updates their blog! Yay! Also, I added the graphic of my name above, which I thought was super cute - thanks Dusty - I totally stole that from your myspace! I moved the header to the "About Me" section, which I'm sure nobody ever read anyway, but just in case, now you know where it is...

Now, on to the YMCA. Yeah, I joined. Just for the rest of the month and July. I am going to go to the H2O Aerobics classes on Tuesday and Thursday evenings for the rest of June. Then, when I'm finished teaching Summer School, I will try to go Monday through Friday in the mornings. There is another teacher friend who goes to the Y to work out, so maybe we can get together and go sometime :-)

I'm not a big worker-outer. I mean, have you seen me?! However, my mom has recently lost about 100 lbs in the past year and she is a faithful participant in her water aerobics three days a week. She also has done Weight Watchers and I'm super proud of her! And I'm super even more jealous of her! Scrawny ass! So, I joined and hopefully I will have at least SOME of the success she has had.

I had a little issue with the folks at the Y. It seems that the people who work there have NO freakin' clue what you need to bring with you in order to become a member. I am surprised that they don't ask for your first born child! Anyway, after going back and forth from the Y to my house because of stupidity on their part, I finally told them that if they needed ONE more thing from my house, I was going home and NOT coming back. Apparently, everything that I brought the second time was PLENTY of information after making that point! HA!

Wish me luck! Perhaps I should put a weight loss ticker on my page...nah - that would mean people would be looking and holding me accountable. Now, we can't have that can we?!

Summer School

2008-06-02T20:27:00.003-05:00

I'm teaching summer school this year. Ugh.

"Why," you ask? Well, I'll tell you. Corey is an Educational Assistant and they don't work OR get paid in the summer, so that means we have that much less income for the next 3 months! Gasp!

"Why doesn't HE get a summer job?!" you ask? Well, I'll tell you. He started his Master's in Elementary Education today. He's already certified 7-12, but has decided he wants to teach the lower grades since he's been working in an elementary school for the last year.

Soooo, his Master's program is very intensive. He will go Monday thru Friday from
9-5 PM for the month of June. I am teaching school from 7:30 - 11:00 in June, so we will still be able to see each other this summer and we'll have the entire month of July off!! Then, he will go one Thursday, Friday, and Saturday a month for the next year. By this time next year, we'll be decorating HIS classroom!!

Now, back to me:

Summer School started today. Poor kids. They REALLY need to be there. I am teaching former 3rd graders, which will possibly be MY 4th graders in August. Wow, I'm going to have a LOT of work ahead of me when school starts if these kids are any indication of what's to come!!! Hopefully, this will only be a sampling and not a grade-wide epidemic. However, I will say this: only FOUR of the students in my current class are from my school. The others are from different schools in the county. Makes me wonder what they are doing there?!

Anyway, we didn't do much today. Mostly introduction stuff. Tomorrow we'll probably play some math games and maybe start a novel. Good times.

I want to leave you with a picture of what I wished my school days had been like...

I was totally Lisa Turtle...

I.AM.A.DUMBASS.

2008-06-01T20:42:00.003-05:00

Yeah.

Today Corey and I went to my classroom to get it ready for my summer school kiddos. We drove through and got lunch and took it into my room. I put down my purse and everything else in my hands. He went out to unload some stuff from my car and I (being the good natured helper that I am) followed him out the door. CRAP.

The door locked behind me. So there we were. Staring into my classroom looking at the keys on my desk. CRAP.

Luckily, he had his cell phone and his car keys in his pocket, so we were eventually able to locate a fellow teacher who came and let us in the building. BUT, I still couldn't get in my classroom. CRAP.

We trolled through the school (thank GOD the alarm wasn't on) and looked in the janitor's office for keys. We found some, but unfortunately, they didn't work. CRAP.

I ended up having to call my assistant principal and he came over and let us in. WHEW.

I owe him big time!

So after that, we were able to FINALLY eat our cold lunch and finish up the work we had come to do.

Yeah. I'll be getting several copies of that key made tomorrow...

Monthly Dinner Menu: June

2008-06-01T10:56:00.003-05:00

Please leave feedback...is my posting these menus helping anyone?

Go Fly a Kite!

2008-05-17T18:53:00.005-05:00

Today, Corey and I went on a LONG exhausting search for a kite. We started at Toys R Us. They were basically sold out of the cheap ones so we went over to Target. They had PLENTY, but Corey decided there were better ones at Wal-Mart and he'd rather have one there. So, off we went to Wally World. He came back empty handed. Then, off to Hobby World, which is supposed to be open until 5:00, but they decided to close at 3:00. Then, off to Hobby Lobby. No kites. Soooo, back to Target. Ugh. Finally we got to the park and stayed about an hour. There were a couple of other folks out there flying their kites, too. It was beautiful outside! Here are some photos of our fun day:

And here are a couple of videos of us trying to keep the kite up!

Monthly Dinner Menu

2008-05-04T11:10:00.004-05:00

Corey and I have been planning monthly dinner menus since October of last year. It was an idea I stole from my friend, Clarissa. We plan for each night except Saturdays because we will usually eat out at least one night a week. For the most part, it works pretty well. There are some nights, though, where something at school will come up and we have to re-adjust things or we just don't feel like eating what's on the menu for the night. In that case, we just shift the meals around. There is always PLENTY of food! I usually end up taking leftovers to school the next day for lunch, so it works out well.

I downloaded a Power Point calendar template from Microsoft and each month, I just open it up and type in what we are going to have. I usually scour the web looking for recipes and other people's menus. I figured posting mine might help somebody out...let me know if you have any questions or comments!!

I Designed a Bag!

2008-05-02T20:08:00.004-05:00

Kroger is having a contest for people to design a "green" bag. This was my design...

What do you think?

American Idol SUCKS!

2008-04-29T19:37:00.008-05:00

Ok, am I the only person who feels like American Idol is really not living up to their end of the deal? What the hell kind of themes are they expecting us to watch? Mariah Carey? Neil Diamond? Dolly Parton? Andrew Lloyd Webber???? While I agree, all of those performers have definitely etched their way into the music history books, do people really want to listen to them now? The demographic for AI is probably
15-25, so you can't tell me that the above mentioned artists are current and popular with that demographic. And when did Mariah Carey stop singing? All she does now is ooh and ahh and touch herself on stage. Puh-leese.

Anyway...AI is complaining about their ratings being so low lately and they are even looking for ways to re-invent it for next season! Um, HELLOOOOOOOOO...LET THEM SING CONTEMPORARY SONGS!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes, they probably ARE in fact, the most talented group ever, but I'm not so sure we'll ever get to see that talent to the fullest extent because they keep picking crappy genres for them to choose crappy songs!

I'm frustrated with this season. If I had known it was going to suck this hard, I would have never invested all this time in it...

And can we just take a minute to discuss the fact that Paula Abdul must have been smoking crack this evening? She was commenting on David Cook's second song before he even performed it! KooKooBird!

Here's my breakdown of what I think about the remaining 5 "Idols":

David Archuleta - You are a robot. Grow some bolts and quit singing the songs your dad picks!

Brooke White - I wish she had a range. Brooke is great, but she tends to stay in the safe zone. Get out!

Syesha Mercado - You are NOT Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, or Celine Dion. Please stop thinking you are.

Jason Castro - I'm over the dred-locked John Travolta look-alike. Lay off the 420.

David Cook - David probably deserves to win this the most. At least he can take these BORING songs and breathe new life into them.

And there you have it folks. I just needed to get that off my chest. You may now return to your regularly scheduled programs...

SKUNKED!!!

2008-04-24T20:49:00.004-05:00

OH.MY.GOSH.

Last night, while watching the Idols get kicked off, I noticed a PUTRID odor coming into my house. It kept getting worse and worse. So bad, that I RAN (and ya'll KNOW I don't run) into the kitchen gagging! Apparently, a skunk had been in our yard and it got spooked and we all know what happens then...So, my ENTIRE house was enveloped in skunk stink! Thank God my nose has been stuffed for the past week and I couldn't smell it to the fullest extreme because we would have probably spent the night at the nearest hotel!

Today when I came home, it was still really bad. So, I opened all the windows in the house and sprayed Febreeze and Oust all over everything. My poor Coach bag even stinks! Anyway, I read online to deskunk a house you should boil vinegar and lay out coffee grounds in each room and it will neutralize the odor. I have to say, it has done wonders for the stench! We can still smell it, but it isn't NEARLY as bad as it was!!!

So, if anyone reading has any suggestions (and no, tomato juice does not work) please share them with us. I think this is quite possibly the grossest thing to ever befall my home! Ugh...

For such a cute animal it sure makes the vomit hit the back of my throat!

Quick Update...

2008-04-22T19:00:00.004-05:00

Today, during our 4th grade field trip to the Hermitage, a representative from ULTA called my cell phone. She said all she needed was my address and they would ship my reward points card to me within 7-10 days. She also apologized profusely for my inconvienience.

So, they have 7-10 days to make me a happy customer again. I'll update you when I get my rewards and let you know what I get with it! :-)

Until then...

ULTA is NOT my favorite place right now...

2008-04-20T17:07:00.002-05:00

Dear ULTA,

I have been a loyal customer of yours since you opened a store in Murfreesboro, TN back in October '07. On your grand opening day, I filled out your reward club card and dropped it in the box by the nice lady who asked me to fill it out. Since then, I have spent approximately $300-$400 on merchandise in your store and have YET to receive ANY of the benefits you promise to your loyal customers for spending their hard earned money at your store.

Yesterday, when I purchased $20 worth of merchandise and mentioned this fact to one of your employees, she looked up my customer number and apparently my information had never been turned in. I was given a card with your customer service number on it and was deferred to your customer service center instead of a manager at the store, so as instructed I came home and promptly phoned your customer service center.

In the past 24 hours, I have been on hold with your "customer service" department for a total of 45 minutes. Currently, I have been on hold for 21 minutes and counting. I have left TWO messages with your phone service with TWO contact numbers. Of course, I was contacted during a time that was well over 12 hours after my original message (is that REALLY your earliest convenience?) and I was not home. Did your customer service team bother to call my other contact number? Of course not! So, I'm back on the phone again.

ULTA, this is a SORRY excuse for good customer service. I am VERY dissatisfied with your company at this point. You must only have a total of three people working at your customer service center, which is evident by the current wait time of 26 minutes I am experiencing. There are companies twice as small as yours who would KILL to demonstrate better customer service.

Please be advised I will be posting this message on my personal blog as an open letter to my readers. Surely you know that word of mouth is the best promotion, so it is within your best interest to right this wrong as soon as possible.

Lastly, I am hoping this situation will be rectified soon and that you will honor the points I have built through your club since your store opened here. I am enclosing my Club number along with TWO contact numbers, in which I'm hoping you will use.

Sincerely,

Stephanie Smith (still holding after 40 minutes)
xxx-xxx-xxxx
xxx-xxx-xxxx

Club Number xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Have You Ever Wondered What $250 Worth of M&Ms Looked Like?

2008-04-13T09:53:00.007-05:00

For the past two years in Rutherford County, we have had a teacher recruitment fair so all the graduating teachers, or those shopping for new jobs, can meet with the principals and some of the faculty from all of the area schools. This will be the second time I have represented my school. Last year, being the first, no one really knew what to expect as far as how to set up the booths and promote our schools. This year we'll be better prepared (as will all the other schools, I'm sure!)

We decided to order some M&Ms as give-aways. We got one 5 lb bag of dark green and one 5 lb bag of gold and 4 little bags of white logo M&Ms. Yesterday, Clarissa and I spent MUCH of the afternoon bagging them (100 bags - 2500 M&Ms total - and we didn't even use HALF the order) tying a cute litte ribbon around the bag and attaching our principal's business card by punching a paw print through it (since we're the wildcats.)

I think they turned out GREAT!

Now the next order of business is to complete the school's power point. The one we used last year is pretty much unusable since many of the people pictured on it don't work at our school anymore due to the new school they built last year. Our school was very crowded, so the new school was built to help with the overflow and half of our staff went there with half of our students. We still love most of them though! lol

The recruitment fair is on the 26th, so we still have a couple of weeks to work out the kinks and be prepared. I'm excited! I love to talk to people, so this is right up my alley! Clarissa will be joining me, so I'm sure we'll work up all kinds of trouble! It'll be good times!

Oh, no they dih-unt!

2008-04-07T18:03:00.003-05:00

Where is Richard Simmons when I need him?

2008-03-29T23:11:00.006-05:00

I am SOOO ready to head back to school. I can't take this Spring Break stuff much longer. I'm going to go insane! I swear I think I've gained a gazillion-trillion pounds this week because I've been on NO schedule whatsoever! I've eaten at McAllister's, Chop House, McDonald's, Hardee's, Sonic, P.F.Chang's, TGI Friday's, Marble Slab, Jason's Deli, Macaroni Grill, Pei Wei's, and Olive Garden - just to name a few. AND on top of that, Corey and I have raided the discounted Easter candy isles and eaten our weight in Mounds & Reese Eggs. Oh, and the Cadbury ones, too.

Please send Richard to my house if you see him. Let him know he needs to help me Sweat to the Oldies - except I hate to sweat! I see NO point in getting ready and putting on clean "special" work-out clothes just to go get dirty and need a shower all over again.

Oooh, and I saw my "Bestest" friend last week when I went to get my strep test. You know, the dietitian...she saw me and said, "Oh, I didn't expect to see you here!" Puh-leeze. She's scared of me. I know it. She is...she was afraid I was coming to fondle her rubber chicken cutlets again.

Sorry, I got off my topic. Please forgive me. Anyway - I'm a lard ass and I need someone to come and staple my mouth shut, lock my fridge, and put alarms on my pantry.

I can't wait to go back to school...

Morning Tongue

2008-03-27T21:13:00.003-05:00

This might just edge out the "Cootie Queen" commercial...be prepared to pee yourself.

Hey - It's Spring Break! Let's Get Strep!

2008-03-21T09:55:00.007-05:00

Soooo, I started off the week just fine. Felt GREAT on Monday and was excited about the week because I knew I only had FOUR days to go until Spring Break. A teacher friend was very sickly on Monday and I made her go home. She could barely hold her head up, so I helped her get her stuff ready for a sub. and sent her home to get rest. She came back on Tuesday and we could all tell she felt much better!

By Tuesday, I noticed my throat was getting a little sore, but I just figured it was due to the spring-like weather and the sinus infection that usually accompanies any weather change.After school, I had to go over to MTSU and serve as a panelist on the NSTA student chapter forum. You see, I actually DID do something smart and nerdy at college because I was the founding president of the National Science Teachers Assoc. Student Chapter at Middle TN State Univ. (NSTA-SC @ MTSU) Whew! So I went to speak about what it has been like transferring from the university life to the actual teaching industry and the challenges and rewards that come with it.

That evening, my throat felt worseand I kept checking my temperature, but I was still as "normal" as I could be. I had even stopped by our school nurse's office before leaving for the meeting to have her look at it. She didn't seem to be worried. After I got home from the meeting, I could NOT keep my head up. I was so deliriously tired that I kept slurring my words. Corey even asked me if I was OK. So, I ended up in bed by 7:00.

Wednesday, my throat hurt, but I was still deliriously tired, so I went to school to get things ready for a substitute. Luckily, we had a field trip to the local high school to watch a play, so all I had to do was get together a bit of busy work to occupy time between when they got back and went home. After I got home I slept for FIVE hours! My throat still was hurting, but not too much. I felt better after the rest and several of my friends called to check on me to make sure I was still alive. I secretly think they were just wishing they would inherit my super sweet-ass Element!

Well, that brings us to Thursday. The last day of the week...I woke up and my throat was on

! My school nurse made me an appointment at the CareHere clinic for 3:00, so I spent the day showering myself in Green Chloroseptic spray to numb the pain. I managed to make it through the day and went to the Dr. at 3:00. Her diagnosis - STREP THROAT! Ugh. I didn't have ANY of the usual signs other than a red swollen throat that usually accompany strep. Other than that, I felt great! She gave me a shot of penicillin and a prescription for Corey and me for a Z-Pack.

Corey and I went to dinner that night with school friends for a fundraiser and went shopping at Target afterward. He suggested I try Breathe Right Strips since my nose had been stuffy through all this and I've been resigned to being a mouth breather. Well, let me tell you that those things kick major ass! It was the first night I've been able to breathe all week!

So, kids. I guess the moral of this long and boring blog is - strep doesn't always appear as you think it would. And, it hurts like hell.

Have a Happy Easter! Eat some bunny ears for me since I can't swallow anything!

MeMe

2008-03-14T20:11:00.004-05:00

Alison tagged me with the Meme challenge. Here are the meme rules: 1. Write your own six word memoir. 2. Post it on your blog and include a visual illustration if you’d like. 3. Link to the person that tagged you in your post and to this original post if possible, so we can track it as it travels across the blogosphere. 4. Tag five more blogs with links5. Remember to leave a comment on the tagged blogs with an invitation to play!
Here is mine:
Loving life more every single day!!

Now the hard part:Tag you are it!!!

Stephanie needs Spring Break RIGHT now!

Tagged:
Clarissa
Dusty
Jennifer
KT - use your myspace girlies!
Bell

And the snow fell!

2008-03-08T10:41:00.004-06:00

We ended up getting between 1 - 3 inches of snow overnight. It was so pretty, but it's a shame it was wasted on the weekend! I mean, we could've had TWO snow days out of this!! Anyway, here is our slideshow of the fun we had this morning!!

It's SNOWING!!

2008-03-07T22:33:00.004-06:00

Yep, FINALLY the white stuff we've been waiting for in mass amounts is here! We're expected to get anywhere from 2 - 6 inches tonight. I'm sooooo stoked to build a snowman and make snow angels tomorrow! Luckily, I have some carrots in the fridge...

Of course, it is COMPLETELY ironic that it is snowing on a Friday night instead of giving me a snow day from my much loved, but I can ditch for a snow day fourth graders!! However, we did get an early dismissal today so we could aviod the storm. Well, it's 10:30 currently and it JUST now started snowing here, so they kinda jumped the gun!

I will try to post pictures tomorrow of my awesome snowman and me making snow angels!

Whoo Hoo!

"Who you callin' a cootie queen, you lint licker?!"

2008-03-02T14:33:00.003-06:00

Ok, this is my ALL TIME favorite commercial! I go around and quote it constantly. I can't stop myself! Anyway, Clarissa has never seen it, so this is for you, girlie!
Sooo hilarious!

Snow Day!

2008-02-27T14:35:00.004-06:00

Today was our second snow day of the year! The last one was earlier this month, but I was lying on my death bed and couldn't enjoy it at ALL! Boooo! However, today I woke up at my usual 5:00 AM and flipped on the TV to notice my lover, Lelan Statom was giving the morning weather report. He said we were OUT! So, I got up and made my teacher friend phone calls to report the news. Then I went back to bed and slept until about 9:00.

My friend, Clarissa, her daughter Caraline, and I went to O'Charley's for lunch. The food was OK. I ordered soup and salad. My salad was great, but the potato cheese soup there is just gross. Does anybody else think they just cut up a raw potato and pour nacho cheese sauce over it and call it a day? Ick. I ate it anyway. Clarissa's meal was also pretty crappy. She got soup and a 1/2 club sandwich. I SWEAR to you the sandwich had a CORNER of a piece of cheese and not even a quarter of a piece of bacon on it. She sent it back. Our waiter took it to the kitchen and they put more bacon and cheese on top of the mess that was already there. I'm sure they added a few pubes to it while they were at it! Haven't you seen "Waiting?"

I came home after that and now I'm watching "Days of Our Lives." Why do they only bring back Kim when somebody dies? Patsy Pease is a good actress - give her a damn permanent job! She needs to be back with Shane so they can be involved with the ISA and have that secret control room in their house again! That was awesome!!

It has been snowing ALL day here and has not amounted to SQUAT! Hopefully, it will still snow after dark and stick. I think we need to call Mr. Gill and plead with him to give us ONE more day off!! Who's with me?!

That's my post. Deal with it! :-)

Sick...ugh...

2008-02-14T20:03:00.004-06:00

Hi! I'm writing tonight feeling like total crap! I had a sinus thing this past weekend, but really didn't think much of it since I have sinus issues frequently. On Monday I went to school and felt pretty good, but when I was on my way Tuesday, my sinuses started to drain and I thought maybe my allergies were acting up. Throughout the day on Tuesday I started feeling worse and worse - I was having to open the back door in my classroom to go and get air. I took my temp. at school and it was normal, but I felt like I was burning up! By the time I got home Tuesday night, I knew I was sick and was dealing with much more than a sinus infection. I went ahead and scheduled a sub. and made a Dr. appt. for Wednesday afternoon.

Well, as it turns out, we got out of school for a snow day on Wednesday, but I didn't even get to enjoy it! Dammit. By the time my 1:00 Dr. appt. rolled around, I thought I was knocking on death's door. Seriously. My head was so hot I thought my eyeballs were going to catch on fire! The dr. told me that my temp was 100.4 and that I was 2 days away from getting pneumonia! Sooo, I got a nice PAINFUL shot in my derriere and several perscriptions for antibiotics, cough syrups, decongestants, etc..

I called a sub for Thursday as well and felt even WORSE today! My temp got up to 101.7 and I really thought I was going to pass out and Corey was going to find me dead in the floor when he got home from work. I went all day either freezing or burning up. At one point I got so hot that my vision started to blur. Ugh. All day I had a miserably, painful, deep-chested cough that didn't produce much but pain. All the muscles in my back and my abdomen have never hurt so bad! And everytime I coughed, it felt like tiny elves were taking pick-axes to my lungs! Ouch!

As of 8:00 tonight I am feeling better. My fever has gone down and I haven't had a coughing spell in about 5 or so hours. AND...here's the BIG part - I can breathe through ONE of my nostrils!!! I can't tell you how exciting that is! At one point I thought I was condemmed to be a mouth-breather forever!

I have called in a sub again for tomorrow, which sucks because it was supposed to be my classes' Valentine's Day party and a half day at school for the kids. But, since I'm still sporting feverish tendencies, I'm probably the last person anybody wants to sit next to. So, I'll spend tomorrow at home. Ugh.

We're supposed to head to Crossville this weekend, but I will need to work on my lesson plans at some point since I was out this week. Perhaps if I feel like it, we can head out tomorrow afternoon when Corey gets back from work. I don't know if I'll be up to it, though. Two hours in a car sounds absolutely exhausting to me right now...

I hope everyone else had a wonderful Valentine's Day. Corey brought me a Route 44 Diet Sprite from Sonic, Cheese & Cracker Combos, and Cheese Pringles. Yum! That's about all I've eaten in 3 days. Not much of an appetite. Anyway, like I said - I hope you all had a great V-Day and got lots of good chocolate and diamonds! lol

Tom Petty...REALLY?!

2008-02-03T19:20:00.001-06:00

Like most of you, I watched the Super Bowl on Sunday night and was subjected to half time as usual. Last year, I was excited to see Prince because let's face it - he's the sexiest midget in high heels you will ever see, but apparently the FCC didn't want a recap of the "behind the curtain guitar-phallus-hump" of yesteryear. So, who did they decide should pump up America and get us ready for a remarkable second half of the biggest game of the year? Who, you ask?????? Tom Petty. Big FREAKIN' Whoop.

Now, don't me wrong. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers did a great job of "Runnin' Down a Dream" 10 years ago, but does America's football demographic of 30-somethings really need him and his band pumping us up in 2008? Has he even had a hit since "Last Dance With Mary Jane?" What the hell has he been doing the past 10 years? We might as well have been watching Cheap Trick!

Thank you Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake for Nipplegate and ruining the most enjoyable part of football I wait to see all year! PLEASE get more contemporary artists next year! I'm begging you! Paula Abdul does NOT count!

And, while we're on the subject of the Super Bowl - what's up with the terribly un-funny commercials? I mean, most of us wives only watch the Super Bowl for the commercials anyway and this year I feel that they have really stripped away all that is good about football from us! Ugh...utterly disappointed.

Ok, I'm off my soap box now. I have to go get ready for school tomorrow! However, if any of you agree with me, feel free to leave a comment. If you don't agree - too bad! :-)

Awwwww yeah!

2008-01-27T20:32:00.001-06:00

The day has finally arrived! This past Saturday, Corey and I got up at the ass crack of dawn to drive down to Atlanta to pick up my new 2006 Orange Honda Element EX-P! It took us 3 hours to get there and I'm really surprised my poor old '94 Nissan Altima with 132,000 miles on it didn't just completely blow up on the interstate on the way there!

We got an excellent deal on it and I would highly recommend Curry Honda for all your Honda needs :-) Our sales rep. was really nice and helpful and we could tell that he wasn't just trying to move another unit off his lot. He really did have our best interest at heart! Thanks Matt!!!

Anyway, here's the highly anticipated photos of Tang (short for Tangerine.) Corey says she's from the planet Poon, which you will only understand if you listen to the Bob & Tom show in the mornings.

I can tell ya'll have been hitting up my blog like crazy from the counter! FINALLY the pictures are here (Clarissa!!!) Enjoy and leave a nice message!

UPDATE: Apparently, Blogger no longer supports slideshows using "Shockwave" so you will have to follow THIS link to see the show.

OK Lelan - show us what you're made of...

2008-01-21T18:48:00.001-06:00

...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM 4 AM TO 12 PM CST TUESDAY...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN NASHVILLE HAS ISSUED A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY, WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM 4 AM TO 12 PM CST TUESDAY.

A COLD FRONT APPROACHING MIDDLE TENNESSEE FROM THE WEST WILL SPREAD PRECIPITATION ACROSS THE AREA LATE TONIGHT AND TOMORROW MORNING. WITH TEMPERATURES EXPECTED TO DROP BELOW FREEZING IN ADVANCE OF THE FRONT, PRECIPITATION WILL BEGIN AS A MIXTURE OF SNOW, SLEET, AND FREEZING RAIN. AS TEMPERATURES SLOWLY WARM THROUGHOUT THE MORNING, THE PRECIPITATION WILL CHANGE TO ALL RAIN. SNOW AND ICE ACCUMULATIONS UP TO AN INCH CAN BE EXPECTED PRIMARILY NORTH OF INTERSTATE 40. LOCATIONS GENERALLY SOUTH OF INTERSTATE 40 WILL EXPERIENCE MINOR ICE ACCUMULATIONS RESULTING FROM A MIXTURE OF RAIN AND FREEZING RAIN.

WINTRY PRECIPITATION WILL OCCUR DURING THE MORNING COMMUTE IN MANY AREAS, SO EXTRA CAUTION AND PREPARATION ARE URGED.

A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY MEANS THAT WINTRY PRECIPITATION WILL CAUSE TRAVEL DIFFICULTIES. BE PREPARED FOR SLIPPERY ROADS AND LIMITED VISIBILITIES, AND USE CAUTION WHILE DRIVING.

PLEASE SNOW!!!

2008-01-16T20:49:00.001-06:00

Please, if you have any love for teachers - BEG for snow! PRAY for snow!

If you don't do the snow dance I will be forced to come after you!!! You don't want that!

So, do whatever it is you have to do to get it here and make it stick! Lelan better not let me down...I need a day off!

(Sorta) New Rooms!

2008-01-02T20:44:00.001-06:00

Corey's brother and sister-in-law bought a new castle in Brentwood this past month and needed brand new bedroom furniture (of course.) So, we were lucky enough to get the perfectly fine hand-me-downs, which are still in great condition. We've been wanting to get (matching) bedroom furniture for a long time, but as we all know - we've been trying to save up for the "Buy Stephanie an Orange Honda Element" fund and haven't really been thinking too seriously about purchasing anything else substantial, so it all worked out. We took our old bedroom furniture, which was my baby furniture, and painted it black last spring. It is now residing in the guest room or as my mom calles it, "the mother-in-law suite." We also re-arranged the room to get everything to fit. Then after re-doing our bedroom and the guest room, Corey decided that we needed to give the office a face lift, too. So, we moved all of that around. I have to say, I'm really enjoying having a house that looks somewhat put together. It is clean and looks "adult." - Not in that way you pervs! Anyway, I'm not finished with our bedroom; I think I want to put those 3D star things on the wall above the bed - like THIS .

Here are the pics I took. You will need to roll your mouse over the picture to see it closer up. Let me know what you think. And hey - you people have not been commenting lately...it's like you've been busy with other stuff or something...sheesh :-)

The Olden Days

2007-12-30T21:24:00.002-06:00

As Corey and I were going through old pictures and cleaning and re-arranging our house this past weekend, I came across this gem! This is a picture of my high school band, "Khaki's Ex." Don't ask me about the name because I have NO idea where the hell it came from! Anyway, we were quite the shiz-nit as you can imagine...

From left to right: Jon, Mark, Tommy, Me. weren't we AWESOME!!??

If you were lucky enough to be at one of our infamous concerts, please leave a comment of your memories! haha!

Santa Loves Me!

2007-12-26T21:28:00.001-06:00

Oh goody, goody! Christmas has again come and gone. I'm quite over the festivities as I'm sure you all are! And please, be responsible and take down your damn decorations and lights sometime within the next week or two. You don't want to look like the neighborhood jackass who is too lazy to un-decorate!!!

ANYWAY...Santa was good - No, he did not bring me an Orange Honda Element, but the Tax Refund Fairy probably will. I did however receive the following items:

From Mom & Dad, and my Grandpa: Gift cards galore, a down vest, jewelry, money, a kitty motel for a stray cat that sleeps on our porch sometimes, and Bare Minerals Gold Collection makeup.

From Corey: Two earring and necklace sets (one brown, and one black), orange house shoes, 2 sweaters (one black w/ polka-dot shirt underneath and an orange cable knit sweater), the Neutrogena Healthy Skin Rejuvinator, a Dove collection of soaps, and an Oral-B rechargeable toothbrush.

From the In-Laws: Orange Crocks, Garrett's Popcorn (a Chicago MUST), gift cards to the Gap, lottery tickets, a 1 hour massage, and a Black & Decker Scum Buster.

All in all, it was a wonderful Christmas and I'm very greatful for everthing I got. Today I went to the Gap Outlet in Lebanon and spent every penny and thensome of my giftcards. I got about 8 shirts and a cute little sweat suit that is SOOOO soft and snuggly that I'm hoping we'll have another "sweats" day at school so I can wear it! I also went to Lane Bryant's Semi-Annual sale and got myself some new skivvies! Jealous, I know!

Well, we only have about a week left before it's Back to School time again. Ugh. Can't wait. At least New Year's will be fun! Who doesn't enjoy Champagne?! Bring on the New Year!!

I hope you all have a wonderful New Year's eve and a hangover free New Year's day!!

Birthday!

2007-12-11T19:32:00.001-06:00

Hello!

Last Thursday (December 6) was my birthday! Thanks to all who wished me Happy Birthday and celebrated with me. If you are one of the few who didn't...then it SUCKS to be you! hahahahaha

Anyway, on Thursday I had a wonderful day which included getting Orange flowers delivered to my school from my parents and a scrumptious dinner at 5 Senses courtesy of Corey's parents. They drove down from Franklin to take us (ME!) out to dinner. I'm telling you, you MUST go! Very delicious! I had filet mignon and creme brulee. Quite tasty. After we ate I went and bought myself one of those fancy schmancy CHI hair straighteners and my hair loves me for it! Corey also gave me Paramore's first CD "All We Know is Falling" since I LOVE their current one, "RIOT." That is a whole 'nother blog, though. My obsession with Paramore is TOO intense for this one!

On Friday night, my closest friends Clare & Tim, Clarissa & Jason, Dusty & Phillip, and Corey and I all went to Fuji Japanese Steakhouse for hibatchi hijinx! The night was capped off by everyone coming over for cake and ice cream and a resounding game of Apples to Apples! We also had a few drinks...

On Saturday, my parents came up and took us (ME!) out to eat at Puleo's Grill and it was just as tasty as ever. When we got home, they gave me a cute little Christmas shirt with a reindeer on it (with a red nose) and some smell good shower gel and lotion (I think they might be trying to tell me something.) My parents and my grandpa also made VERY generous donations to the "Buy Stephanie an Orange Honda Element Fund." So, look out for me in March, bitches...

My parents spent the night and we had breakfast at IHOP the next morning. We also went shopping at TJ Maxx where my mom and I both scored a pair of J-41 (made by Jeep) shoes that are too cute for words for super cheap! Then, my friend Rachel called and said she had come up from Chattanooga to take me to lunch and she was at my house! So, we rushed home to see her and my parents headed home. Rachel and I went shopping on the Avenue and by shopping I mean we just went to drool on things.

We ended up working up an apetite around 4ish and so we ate at Mimi's Cafe. Again, you MUST go. The menu was huge and various! I would recommend it highly! Plus, they have chocolate mints by the door when you leave, so even if you don't go there to eat, stop in and steal yourself a handful of those bad-boys!

Oh, my friend Jennifer also got me the most beautiful teal wrap bracelet just because she loves me ever so much. Clarissa tried to find the Smyrna Starbucks in LaVergne so that she could bring me coffee, but she ended up going to McDonald's instead. That's ok, it was sure tasty! All-in-all I had a VERY good day. I will now leave you with pictures of my cake and flowers...

Tee-hee-hee...

2007-11-30T21:08:00.002-06:00

Tidings...

2007-11-22T20:02:00.002-06:00

Hello all, and Happy Thanksgiving! I hope everyone had a pleasant day with their family(s) and stuffed yourself full of the crap you only get to eat 2 times a year. We have round 2 tomorrow at my Mom & Dad's house. Anyway, that's not really the reason I wanted to blog tonight. I mean, it is, but I've been meaning to say my peace about this other topic for a while...

The topic is that gross-ass Oreo commercial where the Granny and the kid have a stuff lickin' contest. Please tell me you've seen it. Could that BE any more disgusting?! I mean, I literally gag every time I see that commercial! Nobody wants to see granny gettin' down like that unless you are one of those sick old pervs who is into that kind of shee-yawt! Nobody above the age of 40 should be lip smackin' like that in public, much less teaching YOUNGER children how to do it! I mean, you can see granny's saliva dripping off her tounge and she just has a bad case of old-lady lips that look like they've seen the inside of a donkey's pancreas! Now, there's no doubt that granny was a *good* girlfriend back in the day. I bet she had boys knocking down her door to see her lick an Oreo or two. She should NOT be teaching her grandaughter those kinds of perversions. Anyway, I firmly believe this commercial should be pulled off the air. If you have not seen the toxic-ness of which I am speaking, feast your eyes on this:

Go "Eff" yourself...

2007-11-20T19:12:00.001-06:00

Oops! I mean "Elf" yourself!! You have GOT to click HERE to view the FUNNIEST thing I have ever seen! You are going to be AMAZED!!!

Thank you Lisa, you have truly inspired me!!

PS...make sure your speakers are on and UP!

New! New! New!

2007-11-18T18:28:00.001-06:00

Hello all 3 of you reading!

I really have nothing to say. This weekend has been busy and filled with (LONG) weddings, Wal-Mart shopping (3 times) and running around. Apparently my car has a cracked radiator and the brakes also need to be replaced. I am still taking donations to the "Buy Stephanie an Orange Element" fund!

My friend Kristin got married yesterday. That was literally the LONGEST wedding I've ever been to; an hour and a half. YES, the ceremony was an hour and a half! That's an hour and fifteen minutes longer than my OWN wedding! We didn't stay for the reception. By the time they would have taken pictures and gotten to the reception it would have been another hour and we were starving to death!!! So, we went to Corey's parent's house and ate at the Franklin Chop House with them. YUMMY!

Today we have been to Wal-Mart twice (after going last night, too.) We bought a smaller Christmas tree this year except we accidentally got one with multi-color lights so we had to exchange it for clear ones. I HATE multi-colored lights!!!!! I think they are the tackiest thing ever. I have always been VERY particular about my trees. I only want white lights and very little to no ornaments on the tree. One year, I made my mom put just white lights and silver tinsel on it. She thought I was crazy, but I LOVED that tree!

I am also a very firm believer that your tree should have a color scheme. I am not a huge fan of homemade ornaments or the tacky ones people give you because they have to get you something for the Holidays. Ugh. I understand the sentimental stuff, but enough is enough!

I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving! I am not really in the festive holiday spirit as of late, but maybe that will change. I'm such a Bah-Hum-Bug! I always have been. My birthday, however is coming soon and I do always look forward to that! I'm sure I'll let you all know about the festivities surrounding that!

I will leave you now with my favorite South Park Christmas character - Mr. Hankey, the Christmas Poo...

Kitty

2007-11-02T20:19:00.002-05:00

I Covet...

2007-11-01T20:46:00.002-05:00

I think I'm going to start a "Help Stephanie Buy Her Orange Honda Element Fund." My poor car is dying and there's no new car future in sight.

Please, for the mere price of a cup of coffee per day, you could help a poor exhausted teacher afford a car that isn't a POS. Won't you help?

A Spook-tacular Halloween Party!

2007-10-28T19:52:00.001-05:00

Last night, Corey and I were invited to our friend's, Clarissa and Jason's Halloween party. I was a cat and he was a devil (his usual self)! We met a lot of interesting characters such as Britney Spears, Kid Rock, Elmer Fudd, Buggs Bunny, a white trash girl (Clarissa) and her hippie husband. It was fun! They had their house all decked out with spooky decorations and spiderwebs, a fog machine, and a disco ball! Clarissa had her I-pod hooked up to speakers so the dance music could be heard all across the neighborhood! Lol! Clarissa made some fabulous "Witch's Brew," which was very potent and relaxing (if you catch my drift...)Even though we only knew a couple of people at the party, we still had a great time and were happy to be invited!

I made a lovely cake to help set the mood for the party. It was a Kitty Litter Cake. I figured it only made sense to bring that since I WAS a cat and all...

Here are some pics of the festive-ness!

Isn't your mouth watering?!

Aren't we cute??

Oh, yeah!

2007-10-21T19:41:00.001-05:00

You need to go check out my school website. Make sure your volume is turned up! Please explore all the pages. I've been working hard on it. There are some really cute pics of Fall Festival on the Photos page.

Enjoy!

Holy Crap It's Been a Long Time!

2007-10-21T19:17:00.001-05:00

Hello dedicated readers who have faithfully checked my blog everyday for almost a month an seen NOTHING! Apparently, I have been busy! How busy, you ask? Well, I was SOOO busy that I forgot it had been so long since I blogged until I had friends actually calling me to say, "When are you going to blog again?" So, I guess I should fill you all in on my month.

School has been SOOOOOOOOOOOO busy. We had a man show up in Magnum P.I. shorts to talk to the kids about his books. His name was Jonathan Rand and he writes children's SciFi books. You can learn more about him here.

This past Friday, we had Fall Festival at school and so I spent a total of 14 hours at school that day. Then we went to eat with our friends Clare and her boyfriend Tim since it was her birthday. We had mexican and by the time we left there it was almost 11:00 and Corey and I were both DEAD! Corey had strep-throat and I had a sinus infection. I'll tell you, the entire way home from the restaurant I had snot dripping from my nose all over my face and not a Kleenex could be found in my car. And if you've ever been in my car before, you know you could play Let's Make a Deal in there since I have tons of useless crap in it!

Anyway, I've spent the weekend in bed and Corey has been laid up on the couch. (He doesn't get to infect his germs into the bed during the day.) Plus, I had to nap during the day because I could barely sleep at night due to his excessive snoring! I tried to get him to sleep in the other room, but he wasn't up for that. Damn...

I'm sorry this blog wasn't more fun, but I'm pooped and I'm suffering from a case of CRS (see if you can figure that out, smarties) but I will leave you with a lovely picture of myself and Mr. Hawkins. I think this accurately portrays the way I feel about critters...

P.S. I have found my new favorite show this season. DIRTYSEXYMONEY is the BEST! It stars Peter Krause who was on my all-time favorite show Six Feet Under. I love him. Shh..don't tell Corey!

Everybody can Suck it!

2007-09-23T19:42:00.001-05:00

That's the name of one of Kathy Griffin's comedy specials. Last night, Corey and I went and saw her at TPAC for our anniversary present. She was HILARIOUS!!! We have been fans of hers for a while now and haven't missed an episode of "My Life on the D-List." If you haven't heard of her, you have obviously been living under a rock for an excruciatingly long time! She is most recently know for publicly not thanking Jesus during her acceptance speech at the Emmy's. She has since caught a LOT of crap for this statement, which she LOVES because it just causes more people to talk about her, which in turn causes more publicity and popularity on her behalf. There is no bad press, you know... A theater group in Pigeon Forge, TN took out a full page add in USA Today to state their disagreement with her comment. That is ridiculous! They spent $100 thousand to do this instead of doing something productive with their money. What morons!

Anyway, NO one was off limits. We were thoroughly entertained by the way she made fun of and talked badly about such celebrities as Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan, Britney Spears, Dubya, Andy Dick, O.J. Simpson, Barbara Walters, Martha Stewart, the Dog Whisperer, Ty Pennington, and Nick Carter (just to name a few.) My jaws were in PAIN when we left!!

I love Kathy because if I weren't a teacher, I'd be HER! How cool would it be to be PAID to make fun of Hollywood dumb-asses and cause people to almost wet themselves on a daily basis!? I could SOOOOOO do that! I'm good at making fun of almost anything. I already tell-it-like-it-is, AND I'm funny, too! (or so I've been told) Don't you think I'd be good at that job?! I'm ready to hit Zanie's!!! Here's a picture of Kathy from a far. We had balcony seats, so she was kind of a blur, but we still got to see her!!!

And here's a couple of pictures of us all dudded up!

Oh, by the way...we are having a Yard Sale this coming Saturday. PLEASE come and buy my crap! We have tons of it!! I took pictures to prove it to you, too!! If you need directions, email me...I'd LOVE to see you there!

Don't Call it a Comeback...

2007-09-09T21:08:00.001-05:00

Did you SEE Britney Spears and her nappy-ass weave perform "Gimme More" tonight on the VMA's? Puh-lease. She just needs to keep her stock in Cheetos. She looked drugged, lazy, and like she just plain didn't care about being there. I'm sorry, but if this was supposed to be my "comeback" from being a crazy bitch, you bet your sweet ass I'd be giving 210%! HORRIBLE!

I tried to find a YouTube of the stinker of a performance she gave tonight, but apparently they have all been yanked...so, you'll just have to deal with the promise of a great performance!It's Britney, Bitch!

Racin'

2007-09-09T20:06:00.001-05:00

So back at Christmas, my mother-in-law bought the "Richard Petty Driving Experience" for my father-in-law, Wayne. This is where you pay an insane or insane-er amount of money to go to the race track and drive a car. Well, today was the day! We all loaded up and headed off to the Nashville Super Speedway, which is located NOWHERE near Nashville and makes TOTAL sense to me! Anyway, we got up there and it was POURING the rain, but eventually dried up and they didn't have to call it off. Corey's brother, Jason got in on the action, too by riding with a driver at about 140 mph. Let's face it, you have to be a TINGE red behind the ears to be a Racin' fan. We (Corey & I) are not, but it was fun to watch Wayne get in and out of that car. He is not a small guy by any account!

After the "hurry up and wait" of the "experience" we finally took our stomachs that were eating themselves to Demos' for dinner. It was tasty, but I got pissed at them because they don't give free refills on their Fruit Tea, so I refused to order it and I made a HUGE point to let them know that Calypso Cafe gives free refills and theirs is probably better anyway...assholes.

If you are interested in seeing the "experience" of my father-in-law, click HERE

Have a great rest of the weekend...

Mystic Tans, Reunions, and Bad News...

2007-09-03T19:47:00.001-05:00

Folks, it's been a whirlwind weekend! On Friday afternoon, we (Jennifer, Clare, and I) met up with Katie and Erin at Chili's. As always, we had a splendid time and I even took pictures! However, and here comes the bad news part, my camera is DEAD and I cannot upload them to my computer. I discovered this when I changed the batteries this afternoon and it STILL didn't work! Ugh, so...no pictures of of Chili's OR my 10 year high school reunion! Dammit!

After Chili's I left to go to the SunTan City tanning salon for my first encounter with the Mystic Tan. If you have never done this before you should at least do it once! I went in, watched the ever-so-helpful video of just exactly how to "MysticTan", then the girl led me back to this room with a cage and gave me a quick demo. Let me tell you, it takes longer to take off your clothes and put on that barrier cream than it does to tan! I finally got it and all I could think of was that episode of "Friends" where Ross was too stupid to turn around, so he came out looking like a carrot on one side and a potato on the other. The whole process takes about a minute and a half. It was nice. I was disappointed when I got out because I was expecting to look darker instantly and even more so after 3-4 hours. BUT when I got up in the morning, the first thing Corey said to me was, "You are TAN!" So it was a good thing, and no, I didn't look like Ross. I bought the package of 6 tans, so I have 5 more to go. I guess I'll go about once a week. If I added it up correctly (and you all know I'm a math tard) it is cheaper than tanning in a bed!

My reunion was on Saturday night. I'm sure everyone is apprehensive about going to see people you haven't seen or cared about seeing the past 10 years, but we ended up having a GREAT time! We mostly hung out with people that I'm still friends with through MySpace, so I didn't have to waste time asking them, "Where are you now? What do you do? How many kids do you have?" and other boring small talk like that. I was really excited to see my friend Seth, whom I haven't seen in forever. He rolled in in a fat ass black Mercedes! He is an accountant with a large firm in Atlanta, so he's doing VERY well! I was also super excited to see my friend Kynetha. She lives in L.A. now, so it has been a couple of years since I've seen her. We were BFF in high school and I miss hanging out with her!

After the reunion was over and the restaurant (no, not the Depot, Katie)kicked us out, we went over to the after party at the condo hosted by Shasten and Melissa. We stayed until about 12:30 and then said our goodbyes. I am still shocked that Beth & Brannon, Tammy & Jeremy, Beth & Ben, Erin & Nick, and Corey and I ALL live in the 'Boro and we haven't hung out! We had to go all the way to Crossville to do it!

On Sunday afternoon, after eating breakfast at the Bean Pot and lunch at Dicky's BBQ, we headed home for a much needed relaxing evening! I went to bed pretty early since we didn't go to sleep the night before until about 1:30 in the morning!

Today all I've done is clean! No, not true...I met Erin for lunch at Moe's and then we went to Marble Slab for dessert. I'm sure my BFF is going to LOVE that! How many freakin' stars will I get this week!? I also ate a piece of chocolate cake on Saturday night, so I'm SURE I'll get 4 stars for that one! Anyway, after lunch I went to Bath and Body works to get some hair stuff, which is WONDERFUL. The name is "Fakkai" and I get the glossing cream. It makes my hair literally feel like silk! They were also having a sale on their Aromatherapy soap, which NEVER happens, so I picked up 5 for $15. My favorite flavor is the Eucalyptis Spearamint. YUMMY! I also had a coupon for a free pair of panties from Victoria's Secret, so I made their day and didn't spend a DIME! Hahahahah...I love it when I win! lol

Anyway, I've had a full day/weekend and I have pants to take out of the dryer, so I'm leaving you for now! Since my camera is broken, I will leave you with a picture from Romy and Michelle's High School Reunion...one of my favorite movies!

How could you not love it?

2007-08-28T19:57:00.002-05:00

How could a person be so mean? Just look at that scrumptious powdered sugar and adorable pink box!

P.S. If you have NO idea why I posted this, please read the blog below.

Sick Day!

2007-08-28T17:23:00.001-05:00

Hello super fans!

I played hooky today from school. Well, not really - I did really have a Dr. appointment for an ailment I've been having since Sunday. I have had what I've been calling "Phantom Gall-Bladder" pains, off and on for 3 days now and I have been SO uncomfortable! I had my gall bladder taken out in October of 2001, so it is not that! It is a very dull, persistent pain in my upper abdomen which also seems to put pressure and pain in between my shoulder blades. I have also had acid reflux, which has just added not only to the comfort level, but the fun as well! So, I went to the CareHere clinic today (it is a free clinic for County employees) and saw the Dr., who was not the usual Dr. there. She told me...get ready for this...I have HEARTBURN. ARE YOU FREAKING SERIOUS?! ARE YOU TELLING ME I TOOK AN ENTIRE DAY OFF FOR F'N HEARTBURN!??! I was pissed!!

She gave me some Zantac and told me to eat bland food. Um, yeah...that's ALL I eat anyway! Puh-leeze. Again, another person who was not well aware of what they were getting when they signed on with me.

I went to Kroger and spent $20+ on Chicken Noodle soup, crackers, mashed potatoes, pudding, cottage cheese and milk. My dietitician is gonna LOVE this! "Where's your fruit?" (star) "Where's your vegetables?" (another star) Oh, did I tell you that she put a CHECK MARK by the 2 freakin' Danish Wedding Cookies I ate last week?! Have you ever seen a danish wedding cookie before, you skinny bitch? They are about as big as a QUARTER! I just don't understand people who don't eat...

Today, as usual I will leave you with some sort of visual representation of my blog. Please enjoy!

Just F.Y.I.

2007-08-22T19:13:00.001-05:00

Dear Parents,

When you move away to a foreign country such as Mexico, please don't send your NON-Spanish speaking child to school without having someone with him/her all day to translate. That way, when your child has a COMPLETE meltdown, at least somebody will know what they hell they are talking about. That is also especially helpful when they are supposed to ride a bus and they can't tell you which one they ride.

Sincerely,

Mrs. Smith

Damn, I'm a good cook!

2007-08-21T20:40:00.001-05:00

I just wanted to toot my horn tonight. For those of you who have ABSOLUTELY no idea who I am and what I like to do let me tell you...yah, yah, yah, I'm a teacher but when I come home I LOVE to cook! I've been "selling" (and I use that term loosly)Pampered Chef for the last, well it will be 5 years in April. Whew! Time has sure flown by. So anyway, I love to cook! I don't get to do it very often, but this week I've cooked 3 nights in a row. Sunday I made chicken marsala, Monday I made white bean tuscan soup, and tonight I made artichoke chicken with roasted potatoes. All three meals have been SUUUUUUUUUPER!

Tomorrow I go to the dietitician and she better not put stars on anything! I've been really pretty good this week with the exception of Friday. The scale says I've been good, so I'll let you know. So far I've lost about 10 lbs. Not enough, but not too bad...

Oh yeah, my school is selling Smart Cards, so you better buy one or I'll have to hunt you down and kick your ass! :-)

Happy Tuesday!

I am EXHAUSTED!

2007-08-14T19:40:00.001-05:00

Well folks, here I am. Two days into school and I am sooooooo freaking tired. I could sleep forever and it wouldn't be enough! I have been so incredibly busy that I've not had time to do ANYTHING! I got all my students and I'll let you know the demographics:
4 ESL students (two of wich don't speak English AT ALL)
4 resource students
3 CDC students
a student with Asperger's
a student with Diabetes who has to be constantly monitored
a student who has seizures on a daily basis
and a total of THIRTY students all together

I am VERY overwhelmed! Hopefully we'll be getting another 4th grade teacher soon because we (all 5 of us) are sitting at around 27-28 students.

My students seem to be pretty good so far and I hope they stay that way. I don't want to say too much more about my class because you know how sue happy people get now a days and I'm not interested in being on the recieving end of that!

Other than that, NOTHING has been going on in my life, which is why I haven't blogged. I don't like the beginning of school because my whole life is upside down and I'm frazzled! I will be in a better place come October...I'm pooped now...

Alyson!

2007-08-05T20:13:00.001-05:00

Today I went to lunch with my good friend Alyson in Franklin. I have not seen her in over a year since she moved back home to Memphis. We used to teach together at Waldron, but she left me all alone :-(

That's OK, though...I forgave her!

We had lunch at Calypso Cafe and it was DELISH, however I don't think she enjoyed it! Oh well, she'll live. Her mother joined us, too...she's a hoot. Alyson is JUST like her!! We were supposed to meet at 11:30, but if you know her, you know that she is notoriously late, but that's ok, I still love her ;-)

I went with Corey, his parents, his brother and sister-in-law, and baby Sarah to Ming's Buffet, which is a Chinese restaurant. I do not in any way shape or form eat Chinese food! I would rather suck on a turd than put that stuff in my mouth! Ugh...AND I DO NOT eat at buffets. It is absolutely disgusting to even fathom eating off of the same spoon as everyone else! GROSS!!! Anyway, I watched them eat the nastiness while I waited on Alyson to arrive and when they were finished, I went across the street to TJ Maxx. Just as I was leaving she called me and said they were getting off the interstate, so I headed back across the street.

We had a great time catching up and I even got to look at her gorgeous wedding pictures! She is planning a return visit in October, so hopefully our visits won't be so few and far between.

After lunch, I went and picked Corey up at his parents' house and we went to the Dollar Tree. SHOCKING, I know. And, as usual I forgot it was Tax Free day, so the parking lot was swarming with people-buzzards looking for parking spots. Fortuately I ran over some blue-haired granny to get one up front...I kid, I kid, ....it wasn't up front...

I got some SUPER cute "Fall Festival" stuff at the Dollar Tree and we looked for some shoes for Corey. His collection is beginning to rival mine. Well, not really, but for him it's a LOT of shoes. FOUR pairs!! lol

We ended up coming back to the 'Boro to go to Shoe Carnival, which I hate because it is always full of red-necks and their red-neck babies wearing dirty diapers and the aisles are WAY too small!...but we were only there for a minute. The guy who wears the clown nose in that place gives me the creeps...

Traffic was HORRIBLE and backed up all the way from the interstate down past the mall, so we went home the back way to avoid all that nonsense. Now we're home and I'm about to watch my new Sunday nite favorites, "Rock of Love," which is a white-trash treasure trove and "The Two Coreys," which is fun to watch because they look for people who will even THINK about giving them a second chance at acting in anything legit. After that, I'm headed to bed to prepare for a wonderfully exciting week of INSERVICE...yay...

Until next time...

Lunch and Shopping!

2007-08-03T19:04:00.001-05:00

Hola! Today was a super fun day!! It started when my friends Jennifer, Clare, Clarissa, Katie, Erin, and I went to Chili's in Smyrna to have lunch. It was so great to see Katie and Erin because we haven't seen them much this summer and won't see them much next year since they'll be at a different school. We had a lot of fun catching up with them and chit-chatting about what "fun" the new school year will bring! We stayed for about an hour and a half, gave hugs and then Clarissa and I were off to Lebanon to shop at the outlet mall!

I had completely forgotten that it was tax free weekend - because usually I huddle myself up in a little ball and stay far, far away from anything that resembles a place that sells something during that time! There are WAY too many people out and about and I'd rather have to pay the tax than bitch slap some lady for my parking place! Anyway, it wasn't that bad. A little busy, but not unbearable.

Clarissa and I visited LOTS of stores such as the Coach Outlet (where I hoped to find a bargain, but I didn't), Eddie Bauer, Carter's, Ann Taylor, Gap, and Ralph Lauren. Boy did we load up! I got a cute sweater at Eddie Bauer and some great stuff at the Gap. Clarissa ended up hitting sale after sale, too! Miss Caraline (Clarissa's daughter) is going to be the talk of the sandbox with her new clothes! Too cute! - but they still don't make me long for changing a poop-filled diaper. By the way, I have a story about a poop-filled diaper, a cheating ex-boyfriend, and a VERY hot car...remind me to tell it someday. You know it will be good, cause you all KNOW what I'm capable of...

After my disappointing shopping experience at the Coach Outlet, I decided to just go to Dillard's (instead of driving all the way to Green Hills Mall to the Coach store there) and buy the purse I have REALLY been coveting for about 6 months now. I know many of you are thinking, "Why in the HELL would you buy something so expensive?!" but I'll tell you, once you get one, you can't go back! It really is an addiction!! I have ALWAYS had a thing for purses, shoes, clothes, and Barbies (just ask my mom!) but I quit the Barbie thing a long time ago. And hey, why did I spend 5 years in college to get a job that pays a real salary? So I could spend the rest of my life shopping for purses at Wal-Mart? I think not, dammit! I've paid my dues to the college society (I'm still paying them in monthly installments) and I deserve the best because I'm AWESOME and I rock!

As usual I have taken the liberty of assembling a slide show of my wares for your viewing pleasure:

Back to work!

2007-08-02T20:11:00.001-05:00

Hello all (three of you)! I'm sure you were wondering like crazy where I've been for the past few days. Well, I'll tell you...school. Well, really only the physical school today, but the past 2 days I spent sleeping at a school-related conference! Hahaha...just kidding. My body was there was there.

Today we had a meeting, which gave us an additional 5 hours of inservice credit. So, BEFORE we even have to start school, I already have 31 hours for the year. We only have to have 12! Ugh...I get talked into too much stuff!

We have new people at school. It's always strange to get to know them, but I have to remember I was one of "them" once. There is one new one, though. COCKY! That's all I'm sayin'. Lord help ya, buddy. I hope I didn't come out of the gate that way!

Anyway - since I really have nothing to blog about, I decided to go in search of a Thursday Meme. (Named for talking about ME) Here goes:

1. Are you a Chief or an Indian when it comes to work, working on projects, etc? Why/how so?

Hmmm, I tend to be a Chief. My dad always said if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself. So TRUE! And, I am a tad bit of a control freak, so if I'm in charge, then it will always go my way! :-)

2. Are you able to be both a Chief and an Indian when the situation calls for it? Why/why not?

Yes, I am a big team player, but I prefer to be the Chief. I can be an Indian - as long as I like the Chief! If not, I'm tempted to switch tribes and open a casino!

3. Is there a particular situation as of late where you have had to be one or the other? What was it?

Ahhh yes, school. My dear friend Jennifer was elected team leader, which I think was a PERFECT choice! However, there are other school things, such as BTS, where I am the Chief. However, I'm always the Chief at home!

Ok, kiddos. That's it for now, but let me just leave you with this picture to honor Nick from Big Brother 8 since he was voted out tonight:

Brace yourselves...

2007-07-30T11:21:00.001-05:00

That's right folks, brace yourselves! Breathe deeply as you read these next few words... Stephanie Smith actually went OUTDOORS to play a SPORT!!! I realize some of you may have just had a bowel movement in your pants, but it is actually true!

Corey and I went to Barfield Crescent Park yesterday to play Disc Golf. We played 18 holes and it just about killed me, but by god I made it! Thanks to Tim and Clare, (well Tim really, but Clare plays too) Corey has developed a new obsession and claims to be a "natural" at this game, so he had to show me the ropes. I lost my disk in the woods several times and even went IN the deep forest to get it! I did not see any snakes, but I did see a giant lizard, which scared the holy crap out of me and I screamed like any girly girl would! Of course I cheated a bunch and told myself that I either pared or birdied each hole just to make myself feel better. I really sucked!

We also smelled some interesting scents while we were out there. At first, we thought we were going to encounter a skunk, but we soon discovered that is was just two Bevis and Butt-Head look alikes smoking pot at one of the holes in the woods. What losers! I swear to you, they sounded just like them...laughing and all!

Anyway, I did really well playing the first 9 holes because they were actually in civilization, but once we got to the back 9 I began to realize this was more "outdoor-y" than I had planned for. There was one hole where you had to trek down what seemed like a mountain and then on the hole directly after it you had to haul your ass back up to the top. I thought I was going to die right there and all the maggots and wood critters would have had a lovely dinner! However, I made it. I survived.

I'm not real sure when I will be back to play again. You know how much I LOVE to sweat and all...It's only the most disgusting thing in the world...

For you viewing pleasure, I have compiled a slideshow. Make sure you pay special attention to the captions so that you get the "true" feel for my day. Sorry ladies, there are no pictures of Corey...only ME

A Trip Home

2007-07-29T11:57:00.001-05:00

Last Thursday, I left Murfreesboro to head to Crossville. I hadn't been in a while and it was a good chance to get back before school starts. Sometimes it's just nice to go home, ya know? Anyway, I always have my favorite places to stop when I go home, so I was looking forward to my shopping excursion. When I got there, I met my mom at the house and we had to stay there for a little while because there were men working on the garage since it didn't work anymore. My dad called and wanted us to meet him for lunch before he had to head to the store. (Here's my dad in his favorite chair looking oh so handsome:)
After the worker men left, we went to meet him at the Cracker Barrel. I was really good and ordered a grilled chicken salad and I even left most of my croutons! We all had a good lunch, but it had to be quick so dad could get back and open the store.

After lunch, mom and I began our tour of my usual places to hit when I go home. We went to the Dollar Tree, which as you all know is my most FAVORITE store on the planet! I needed something that was metal for my students to be able to use their Magnetic Poetry centers on. They just happened to have some colorful square metal sheets to be used as a memo board in their Back to School section. I picked up six of them! I also got some really cool, clear frog and human models in their toy section. You can take them apart and "disect" them without getting all goopy! I got a couple of them for my friend, Clarissa, too! We also hit up the Cato store, but didn't find anything there. So we moved on to the used book store.
The Book Cellar is also one of Corey's favorite places to visit, but he looks for scary books! I go to look for books to use in my classroom. I will usually buy 2-3 copies of the same book if I can find it so that I can use them for book circles! I did end up finding a few books, and even one on tape, so it turned out to be a pretty good find!

After shopping all day we met my dad for dinner at Dickey's Barbeque. That happens to be my and Corey's "special" place (lol) but that's another story. I had a baked potato with pulled pork bbq and it was mighty tasty!! They also have these big-ass pickles you can get out of a jar! It was a very tasty dinner!

My mom goes to a water aerobics class on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. She wanted me to go with her in the morning, but I needed a bathing suit, so we went out to the outlet mall to find a new swim suit for me and some new tennis shoes for dad. I got a chocolate brown suit with rouching to hide all my fat rolls! It's really cute! So anyway, the next day we got up and went to her water aerobics class. I SWEAR to you my mom and I were the youngest people there! And...the class was lead by this old German lady. Let me tell you, that German lady was FIERCE! She had everybody's asses up moving around! It lasted about an hour, but it was fun and I am thinking about going to the YMCA here since they offer water aerobic classes, too!
Here is a picture of the pool:

The rest of the day was great, too! We met Marilyn, a family friend, to go see "Hairspray" at the movies and it was really cute! It was SUPER hard not to get popcorn, but mom and I snuck in some 100 calorie packs of snacks and we were fine! Here's my mom and Marilyn at the movie theater:

My dad's band, the City Lights, was playing out at the Fairfield country club that night and mom and I wanted to go see them, so we went shopping to find something to wear, naturally! We searched all over the place, but I finally found a really cute black and white polka-dot dress at Goody's. When we tried to call and make reservations, they were all booked up, so we didn't end up going after all. :-(
Instead, we called Marilyn and asked her to eat at Gondola's with us. It was really good and nice to spend more time with her!

The next day, I slept late! It was nice since I hadn't been sleeping well. I watched my mom kill a poke weed in front of her house. This is what people use to make "poke salit" and no, that's not spelled wrong. People used to eat this stuff! Here's a little slide show of it's removal by my mother:

We went to lunch with my grandpa at Shoney's and it was good to see him. Below are pictures of him with my mom and with his fishin' hat on:

It was also good to see the animals.

Spooky, the dalmation, Orange, the cat, and a random frog in the driveway! lol I also saw a black snake wriggling across the road as I was leaving! Ewww... I had a fun time and I'll be back again on Sept. 1st for my 10 year High School reunion!

I am Big Bird

2007-07-28T22:19:00.002-05:00

Your Score: Big Bird

You scored 83% Organization, 46% abstract, and 81% extroverted!

This test measured 3 variables.

First, this test measured how organized you are. Some muppets like Cookie Monster make big messes, while others like Bert are quite anal about things being clean.

Second, this test measured if you prefer a concrete or an abstract viewpoint. For the purposes of this test, concrete people are considered to gravitate more to mathematical and logical approaches, whereas abstract people are more the dreamers and artistic type.

Third, this test measured if you are more of an introvert or an extrovert. By definition, an introvert concentrates more on herself and an extrovert focuses more on others. In this test an introvert was somebody that either tends to spend more time alone or thinks more about herself.

You are very organized, both concrete and abstract, and more extroverted.

Here is why are you Big Bird.

You are both very organized. You almost always know where your belongings are and you prefer things neat. You may even enjoy cleaning and find it therapeutic. Big Bird is never sloppy and always under control... pretty good for a 6 year old bird living without a family.

You both are sometimes concrete and sometimes abstract thinkers. Big Bird can be quite dreamy at times and has no problem using his imagination. At the same time he is also practical and can be methodical in his search for answers to questions. You have a good balance in your life. You know when to be logical at times, but you also aren't afraid to explore your dreams and desires... within limits of course.

You are both extroverts. Big Bird gets along with everyone. He makes friends easily and always has a positive attitude. You definitely enjoy the company of others, and you don't have problems meeting new people... in fact you probably look forward to it. You are willing to take charge when necessary or work as part of a team.

The other possible characters are
Oscar the Grouch
Bert
Snuffleupagus
Ernie
Elmo
Kermit the Frog
Grover
Cookie Monster
Guy Smiley
The Count

Hey, don't be a grouch! If you liked the test, let others know by rating it below. Feel free to vote for your favorite character too.

Link: The Your SESAME STREET Persona Test written by greencowsgomoo on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the The Dating Persona Test

Rain...

2007-07-25T17:01:00.001-05:00

This is what was going on at my house today!

Birthday Celebration #2

2007-07-25T10:38:00.001-05:00

Well, yesterday was Corey's birthday and we had a fantastic time! It all started as we got up around 7:00 to get ready to go to the zoo. We got up there around 9:30 and began our day. We really enjoyed seeing the animals, but especially the giraffes and elephants! I got to see Hadari, the elephant that painted the picture in my livingroom! She had a notch in her ear and the shortest tail, so that's how we were able to distinguish her from the other 2 elephants. She is the one on the far left in the picture below. I ran into my friend Alison at the aquarium part of the zoo. She was there with her family and her friend. You can read all about her trip to the zoo HERE

After we left the zoo, we went over to the Hickory Hollow mall (ONLY because it was still daylight!) and had lunch in the food court. Corey had a gyro from Pyramids and I had a turkey sandwich from Subway. After lunch we cruised the mall and ended up at a store called "Steve & Barry's." This is where Sarah Jessica Parker has her new BITTEN clothing line. I had never been there before, but let me tell you - it is WAAAAAAY cheaper than Old Navy ever dreamed of being! Corey and I got 2 graphic tees there. His says "Dungeons & Dragons" on it because he is a geek and mine is pink with a turtle on it and says "It's all about me, get used to it" which is SO appropriate!

I was also on a mission to find some nice red heels to go with my two new black and white outfits that I purchased last week. I looked all over the mall but couldn't find any. After we had been at home and rested for about an hour, we went back out and I stopped at Payless and bought what my friend Sandy referred to as "red hooker heels." They are actually pretty comfortable. You should click on the link to see them; they're cute!

After finding my heels, we went to Hastings because Corey was on a mission to find the 20th anniversary edition of "The Monster Squad." If you are a loser and didn't see this movie back in the 80s, I HIGHLY recommend that you watch it! It's awesome! Ryan Lambert is in it and as we all know, he was on Kids Incorporated with Fergie. He's second from the left and Fergie is the cute little blonde girl on the bottom. Boy, did she get fugly! Anyway, we got the movie and saved the day. Then we went to Publix, which I lovingly refer to as "Pubix" for birthday cake and ice cream.

We came home and got ready to meet our friends at Fuji and yes, I wore my red hooker heels. We had an awesome dinner, but our chef didn't like the fact that I ordered my filet mignon medium well, so he gave me shit about it all night. I told him that was ok, but at the end of the meal, I was the one leaving the tip. He seemed to shut up after that comment. Other than that, our dinner was quite pleasant. There were 8 of us: Corey and Myself, Clare and Tim, Aaron and Jenny, Sandy, and Shad. All but Shad came over for cake and ice cream after it was over. We cracked open the bottle of icewine that Corey's parents brought us back from Canada and sipped on it out of my cute little cordial glasses. The girls and I went and enjoyed a conversation about America and politics on the front porch while it came a monsoon storm and the boys were sissies and sat in the kitchen - probably talking about recipes and how to knit themselves new man-panties.

We hit the hay around 11:30 and I conked right out! It was a long-ass day, but we had a great time! Oh, I got Corey a DVD/VCR combo for his birthday. He was excited!! We spent WAY too much money, but it was worth it. Birthdays are fun! Now, mine is December 6th and y'all better believe we'll be celebrating!!! Just wait...

No stars!

2007-07-23T18:16:00.001-05:00

Just an FYI...

I went to weigh in today and I've lost another 3.4lbs. AND...here's the biggest part - she didn't put stars next to ANYTHING! That means that everything that I ate this week was acceptable! Yay! So, the bitch isn't a bitch this week. I'll let her be "the chick" until further notice, but by god if she puts a star on my shit next week, she'll be back to bitch status!

Corey's Birthday Celebration #1

2007-07-22T21:40:00.001-05:00

This afternoon, we went to Franklin. Tuesday is Corey's birthday, so we went to celebrate with his parents today. Our reservations at Saffire were for 5:00, which by the way if you haven't been, you should TOTALLY go - it's in the Factory. Anyway, we got down there around 2:00, so we had some time to kill. After hanging out with his parents we decided to head over to Academy sports to look for a Disc Golf set.

See, Clare and Tim came over the other day (when we had our mani/pedis) and while the girls were out Tim took Corey to play disc golf over at Barfiled Park. Apparently this is now his newest obsession!! So, off we went to the sporting goods store to buy TWO sets. One for him and one for guess who...ME. Have I ever played this before? No. It will be very interesting to see how that goes. I HATE to sweat, so if that happens we'll have to persue other options. Maybe I can take a portable fan with me...do they have those? Back to my story - Academy SUCKS! That place is huge and the isles are literally 4 feet wide and I have an intense feeling of claustrophobia every time I go in there. We finally found the disc golf stuff with the CAMPING equipment. Who the hell thought it would be a good idea to do that!? Who said, "It makes COMPLETE sense to put disc golf over with the portable toilets and waterproof toilet paper!" We didn't like the deal they had there and I hated the store, so we left and went to Dick's.

Dick's was MUCH more open and less crowded and we were able to find what we wanted quickly, so we were in and out. Those little discs are expensive. For a pack of three - a driver, iron, and putter - it cost $24! DAYUM! We purchased two sets so that MOI could play.

We went back to his parents house and piled in the van to go down the street to Saffire. I'm telling you - YOU HAVE TO GO! It is expensive, but very tasty!! They have these cheese grits, made with mascarpone cheese and cream that are to DIE for!! So, Judy, Corey and I had the fish and grits. It was wonderful, but I couldn't eat it all; I was stuffed! I wonder if any of the chefs there work at Viking, too? I need to take another class there and maybe they can teach me how to cook the fish that way. I made the grits at home once, but they weren't nearly as good as Saffire's.

After dinner, we went back to his parent's house to have ice cream cake. Mmmmmm....I was sooooo bad today! However, I have eaten about 100 less calories each day in anticipation of today. We will also be going to Fuji Japanese Steakhouse on Tuesday, so I'll have to make up for that later in the week. I weigh in tomorrow and hopefully HER scale will show as much progress as MY scale does...

We got home around 8 and tried to watch Big Brother, but our stupid-ass TiVo wouldn't play it, so after Corey spent 30 minutes on the phone with a rep. from DirecTV's customer service, we finally got to watch it after I found it on the computer on a spoiler site. Ahhh, sweet drama. I freakin' LOVE Big Brother! It is the apitomy of summer to me. Love it!! Ok, it's time to shut up now.

Oh, the Kava's place wasn't all that but they did have some damn good iced tea!

Haircuts and toenails

2007-07-21T18:40:00.002-05:00

Hello all! I'm sure there are like, three of you reading this... Anyway, I just thought I'd update you on the past 2 days of my life because I KNOW you can't live without an update!

Thursday my friends Clare and Clarissa and I went to the hair-do school to get our manis and pedis. Now, you may be thinking, "Why in the world would they go to the hair-do school to get their toes done?!," but I will tell you they are cheap ($20 for a spa mani/pedi) and they do a pretty good job. There is no way in HELL I would ever let them touch my hair, but they can touch my feet all they want because I am not gonna do it! We had a nice time and it was good to get out with the girls. Girl days are fun!!

After that, we went on a scavenger hunt for a pair of shoes that I so desperately needed (yeah right!) and Clarissa had. They were just too cute, so I decided I needed them also! We went to several shoe stores, but they were just nowhere to be found. I did end up finding them on the internet last night and ordered them. Whoo hoo! New shoes! Nothing makes a girl feel better than a new pair of shoes...I have literally more than 50 pairs. It's an addiction...shoes and handbags. I can't help myself!!

Yesterday I went to get a cute, sassy haircut. I don't know about you, but I absolutely HATE it when the girl fixes my hair. It always ends up looking like shit! I left there looking like a cotton ball head because my hair was sooooooo poofy! I knew I liked the cut, but I went directly to my straightener when I got home and fixed that mess right up! She CURLED my hair after I specifically mentioned that I wanted it straight. I don't even need a curling iron because my hair is naturally curly, so why would I want to do that to myself?! Oh well, I fixed it and it looks really cute today!

Today I went to a baby shower for another teacher friend at school. She is having a girl. This is literally about the 15th baby shower I have been to this year. EVERYBODY had a baby this year - but me. I don't even want a dog right now! Maybe when I'm 40 it will be time. I am way too selfish for that business. I have to save all my money for my shoes and handbags! lol

Anyway, the shower was nice and it was good to see some teachers that I hadn't seen all summer. We all got caught up on school news and talked it over and played games and ate cupcakes. Yes, I had a freakin' cupcake and if that bitch dietitician says ONE damn word about it or puts a star next to it on my paper I might just have to politely lean over the table and smack the shit outta her. I've been really good this week!!!! I don't want to hear about a damn cupcake! Shut up!!

Corey and I are getting ready to go out to eat with some friends who are about to move away. Hmmm, wonder what we did?! lol We are going to Kava's. It is supposed to be Carribbean food maybe? Anyway, I'm sure there's nothing there that I will put in my mouth. As you know, I do NOT eat ethnic food unless it's Mexican. Maybe they'll have some beans or fruit...I know they do have roasted chicken, and I might eat that as long as they haven't rubbed it with spices from the underbelly of a wild pig. I'll have to get back to you about that one...

My classroom

2007-07-19T10:39:00.001-05:00

Alright folks. Here it is!

Ok, so it's been a while...

2007-07-17T19:02:00.001-05:00

Ok, my life I feel is really not that interesting, but I'm bored right now and need something to do. Anyway...let's get on with it:

I started the Rutherford County program called, "Action with Balance," which is a weight loss management program. I had to pay $50 for the 12 week course, but when I successfully complete it, I get my money back, so it really is a win/win situation. I met with my dietitician (after I tried to quit because she never would call me back) and I must say, I hate her. Let me tell you why. She's blonde, skinny, perfect teeth, and looks like she's never eaten a french fry in all of her 24 years (and yeah, she's 24...I looked her up on myspace). I HATE HER! Well, not hate, hate, but you know what I mean. I would probably feel MUCH more comfortable with her if she had a picture of herself on her desk from when she weighed 350lbs, but I'm almost positive that's not gonna happen. How am I possibly supposed to take advice, much less find inspiration in someone who's NEVER struggled with eating a cheeseburger!? Bitch even fussed at me for getting a NON-fat latte at Starbucks, but I flat out told her I wasn't even going to apologize about it because I knew it wasn't a big deal. She simply said, "OK" and she moved off it. Yeah, I really don't think she knew what she was getting with me.

The first time we met she asked me what I would and would not eat. I don't think there's enough paper in the world to list all of my eating "quirks," but my two absolutely-not-going-in my-mouth-foods were milk and tomatoes. YUCK! However, I really need to have a meal in front of me before I know what I will and will not eat. Take lettuce for instance; if it is too green or has too many ribs or hard vein-y parts in it, it's not going into my mouth! No way!

Anyway, on my second visit I did lose over 2lbs, but I'm trying to stick more with the Weight Watchers Core plan than what she tells me about calories. I hate to count, which is why I did the Core plan in the first place. However, I do use this cool website (www.thedailyplate.com) to track my calories, goals (if I set them) and exercise. It's nice because it literally lists EVERYTHING in the world on there; even fast food restaurants and national brands of food. So, if you're looking for a good tracker, use that one.

I go back to her this coming Monday, so I'm sure I'll have more lovely things to say. By then I should be used to my eight teen hundred freakin' calories a day diet. Shit. Maybe that's the stomach growls that are talking...

Oh yeah, my classroom is finished and hopefully I will have pictures up soon...we'll see how that goes. :-)

All Dressed Up...

2006-06-29T13:29:00.001-05:00

Well, here we are! Corey's parents, Judy and Wayne, myself, and Corey. We were all dressed up to go to Corey's cousin's wedding back in May. We don't tend to get too dressed up very often. In fact, this photo is QUITE the opposite of what I'm wearing today! I haven't even showered yet! But, I've not been a slacker either; I have already unloaded/loaded the dishwasher, made a banana cake, and finished the laundry. I am also planning to dust and vacuum the living room and bedrooms. So, why get all dressed up just to get dirty again?!

Tonight I have to get dressed up to go to some sort of fundraiser with my friend Jennifer. She is supporting a woman who is running for Judge in our area, so we are going. She bought the tickets in hope that her hubby would be going with her, but he is on duty (Highway Patrolman) and won't be able to make it. Sooooo, I'm second on the list. I hope there will be free alcohol and lots of good food, otherwise I don't know how the hell I'm going to get through a bunch of political nonsense and jibber-jabber!

It will be nice to get out of the house, though. Since school's been out, I have found myself INCREDIBLY bored and wishing I could be in my classroom getting stuff done for next year. However, I've made a deal with myself that I wouldn't go for at least a month after school got out. Well, that month will be up tomorrow! So I'm thinking next week, maybe Wednesday, I'll be headed to school!! Yay!

This weekend, Jennifer and I are going to Tunica to gamble!! I have been to LasVegas and it was fabulous, so I'm hoping this adventure will at least be a closer and less expensive alternative to lose all my money! The room and all meals are free because we will be staying with a "high roller," that will be nice!! Maybe I'll come back as a "thousandaire!!!" Wish me luck!

Time to go watch Days of Our Lives now! Ta Ta!

Painting

2006-06-27T22:25:00.001-05:00

So, today we painted the chest of drawers and dresser that I've had since I was a baby. They were beat up and looked like total crap, so we decided to go for a change. With some nice paint and new hardware, they went from looking like old 70s memorobilia to an updated 2006 look! Yay!

And of course it all stems from our wedding picture which is very large and silver and black, so we had to get new lamps and the whole nine!! Maybe next I'll decide to get new sheets and accent pillows. Baby steps, I know...