♫ Give it away, give it away, give it away now!

As I was writing this post, I kept singing the chorus to "Give it Away" by The Red Hot Chili Peppers. I am a dork. 

Here are some giveaways you may want to enter:

There is an awesome 100 follower giveaway happening now in Foxwell Forest! Congrats, Becca! :)

Click the pic to go to her blog!

Jessica from Second Grade Nest is having a 500 followers giveaway! Congrats, Jessica!

Click the pic to go to her blog!

Jaime from Bright Concepts 4 Teachers is hosting a 200 followers giveaway! Congrats on 200, Jamie!

Click the pic to go to her blog!

Stephanie Ann from Sparkling in Third Grade is having a 100 followers giveaway! Congrats, Stephanie! 

Click the pic to go to her blog!

There is a fabulous gift card giveaway happening now over at The Peanut Gallery! :D Woohoo!

Click the pic to go to her blog! 

Lisa from Live, Laugh and Love to Learn is giving away 13 items from her store! 13 happens to be my favorite/lucky number! :)

 Click the pic to go to her blog!

Lori from The Reinspired Teacher is celebrating 100 followers! 

Click the pic to go to her blog!

Just Wild about Teaching is giving a way a $20 gift card to Amazon along with a New Year's craftivity AND a Dental Health craftivity!

Just click the pic to go to her blog!

What are you waiting for? Go enter! :)

I am also linking up with Jen from The Teacher's Cauldon to share 2 of my New Year's resolutions. Yup, only two.

The first is a personal one.

It's the one I make every year and never do:
2013 is my year!

Click the pic to check out my fitness board

Blog resolution:

Get organized and blog more. I have lots of ideas for activities, blog posts and FREEBIES all jumbled up in my brain. I just need to sit down and organize it all. I have a TPT store but it needs some serious work. A HUGE thank you to the 6 darlings that have followed. (I know there are 7 now, but I kinda followed myself.) *blushes* I promise it will be filled with goodies soon!

I saw this on Lisa's blog, Learning is Something to Treasure:

It's a blogging calendar she found on Pinterest! Awesome idea!
This will help me organize for sure!

I'm pretty good at leaving blog comments but totally fail on leaving comments on TPT for freebies.
Y'all are so wonderful for sharing your hardwork for free, I need to be better at saying thanks and leaving feedback. 
I also hope to host my first linky in 2013. I'm still pretty new at this but I am getting better! Yay!

I also started a Facebook page for my blog. Would you be so kind and stop by and give it a quick like?

Click the pic for FB!

Well, that's all folks! I'm off to get ready for church. We're having a New Year's Eve eve dinner. Doesn't quite help with my get fit resolution. Ha!

Thanks for following my blog, TpT store and FB page! Your support is greatly appreciated! :)

Merry Christmas!

Happy birthday, Jesus! ♥

Exciting news!

This past Tuesday I was subbing in a 6th grade classroom. The day before I went in half a day in 4th grade and was told there would be a lockdown drill the next day. The teacher left her key for me and that morning I prepared the students for the drill. There are quite a few goofballs in that class so I stressed that they were to take this drill seriously. It was just a practice drill but I could see the nervousness in their eyes. What happened last Friday made this real. I'm not going to lie, I was a little nervous, too. Once we were all sitting on the floor, I kept telling them that these drills were necessary because in the event of a real lockdown, we would know what to do to be safe.

It was there, on the floor, that I realized that even though they are 6th graders, they are still babies. Just 12 years old. They are the oldest at school and we stress that and we stress that they need to be mature, independent, and an example to the lower grades but they are still children. So that day I did what I could. I let them sit with their friends and eat snacks. We joked, we laughed, and we did word searches together. ❤

Now on to my news. As I was walking the 6th grade class to the cafeteria, the school secretary informed me that the principal wanted to speak to me after school. :O I had no clue why but I knew I had done nothing wrong, took a deep breath, and went on with my day. The dismissal bell rings and there I am waiting. The principal was in a meeting so I had plenty of time to sit there and pretend not to be a little nervous. Haha!

I finally walk into her office and she tells me that she saw my name on a list of applicants for a new tutoring program that will begin in January and wants to discuss my background in education. Long story short, she offered me the job. Starting in January, I will be working with 5th graders struggling with Reading and Math. I will help prepare them for the STAAR test. You might think, "Tutoring? Not a big deal." But it is for me. My certification may be up to 4th grade but this still gives me the chance to teach. To put what I've learned to practice. To really do what I love. I enjoy subbing but I don't really get to do anything. There is no way of me knowing what grade I'll be in or what they'll be working on so I can't really prepare anything. It's only 18 hours a week so I'll still get to sub. I am excited! I can't wait to begin! It's not where I want to be but God wants me here right now and it's a start. 

I found this on Pinterest yesterday and I know it is not a coincidence. 

*Update: I cannot believe I forgot to mention this when I wrote this post but I sold my first product on TpT!!! My store is still a work in progress and there isn't anything there but letter vests and I sold one!! If it was you, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!! :D

I'm going to spend Christmas break stalking visiting 5th grade blogs. If there are any blogs you think I should visit, please let me know. I follow a few but I know there may be some I don't know about. 


Speaking of things that may be unknown, did you know Alison over at Teaching Maths with Meaning is having a giveaway? $25 to TpT! There are a few hours left to enter, so click the pic to head to her blog!

Let us continue praying for the families of Sandy Hook Elementary and the entire community of Newtown, CT. The holidays are not going to be easy for them. May God comfort them as only He knows how. They were our babies, and our colleagues. They were gone too soon. 

Weight-loss Wednesday

I got my wog (walk + jog = wog) on today and Monday. I'm sticking to my 3 miles a day, 3x's a week. And I feel good.  I wanted to take a picture of the sunrise this morning but it was cloudy. I am officially on Christmas break! School resumes on January 7th so I've got until then to fully plan out my exercise schedule and eating plan. I've been reading and researching so that I can put together a plan that's good for me.

I must remember this when my calves start to hurt. Keep. Going.

I've got some exciting news to share tomorrow! Well, exciting for me anyway! :)

 I'm off to watch The Hobbit in a bit! 

Happy Wednesday, friends!

Silence for Sandy Hook Elementary

♥

 From Farley's blog:

 Please join me in a day of silence for teacher bloggers on
Sunday, December 16, 2012,
by only posting the picture below on your blog
and titling your post as "Silence for Sandy Hook Elementary" .

 

Let's show our fellow teachers and the families at Sandy Hook Elementary
our love and support from across the nation and the world during this most difficult time.

Heartbroken

I turned on my TV to see news of a mass shooting at an elementary school in Newton, Connecticut. Twenty-six people, shot and killed, most of them children. Schools are suppose to be a happy and safe learning environment. I can imagine their school day started as any other. Excitement filled the air in anticipation for Christmas break. Crayons, scissors and glue in hand as they completed holiday crafts. All that changed in a second. 

I am horrified and heartbroken. 

I'm praying for everyone affected by this tragedy and as always I am praying for you.  Let's continue to pray for our schools and our country.

Psalm 34:18

Wordless Weight-loss Wednesday

   

 

 (my favorite!)

I get to wear sweatpants to work tomorrow!

Before I start babbling about my day, I have to sing praises to God for the success of Amy Lemons' surgery. She was on my mind all day yesterday and I just kept declaring her surgery would be without complications.

God is good! :)

Now praying for a speedy recovery!

So, I'm back on the sub list. I've been subbing for the past 4 years but this summer I had some plans, that didn't work out so here I am. 

(I'll bore you some other time with the story.)

I was called into a 3rd grade classroom today. I wish I had lots of fun pictures to share of all the cool activities we did but there were none. Only worksheets. Boring worksheets.

 I did enjoy this during my lunch break. :) 

I always have a little back up plan because there have been times when teachers have left insufficient work or they leave something the students have already done and they breeze through it. I hate when that happens! So I remembered Farley's RAK and decided to get these kiddos going with some handmade Christmas cards. It's the best I could do on the spot and with the materials I had. We listed people in the school who don't get thanked often for the work they do. With a nudge from me, they came up with the following:

1. Librarian

2. Custodial staff

3. Cafeteria staff

4. PE coaches

5. Computer lab manager

6. Nurse

 I cut up some construction paper, glued white paper inside and ta-da a card! I had them decorate the front, draw a little something inside, and write a two sentence thank you. Of course I forgot to take a picture. They were so into the cards that the dismissal bell rang and they were still working on them. We had to clean in a hurry and pack up for the day.  Some even said they were going to finish them at home and deliver them tomorrow. :)

I'm going to be helping out the P.E. coaches tomorrow for half a day so I get to wear sweatpants! Perfect because it's cold and I get to wear a hoodie. I've never been in a P.E. class before so we'll see how it goes. 

Before I go here are some giveaways I think you'll want to enter:

Kim from Finding Joy in 6th Grade is all about spreading joy this holiday season. She's giving away a $25 giftcard to the store of your choice! 

 Jennifer over at Herding Kats in Kindergarten is giving away a $50 Kohl's gift card! 

The sweet ladies from Primary Possibilites are having a sweet giveaway over at their blog! 

 Katie from Teacher to the Core is having a HUGE giveaway with over 33 bloggers!

P.S. It's 41 degrees outside right now! :D 

12 in '12

It's snowing! haha Not in Texas (I wish!) but on my blog! I will say that it is currently 45 degrees outside.  For us south Texas folks, that's very cold. If you want to sprinkle your blog with snow, head over to Ruby Slippers Blog Designs to get the code. Thanks, Barbara! 

 Click the pic to link up!

I'm linking up with the lovely Kristin from A Teeny Tiny Teacher and the lovely Hadar from Miss Kindergarten for their 12 in '12 linky party. You know I ♥ linkys. Linkies. Linky-s.
All you have to do is think back at your favorites in 2012 and add a few pictures.

(Twelve) Favorite Movie You Watched: 

 Read the books, loved them! Saw the movie, loved it! I can't wait for the next two movies!

(Eleven) Favorite TV Series:

 I am always late to the party. I started watching this show this year and I am hooked!

(Ten) Favorite Restaurant:

See #9 :) 

(Nine) Favorite new thing you tried:

Alamo Drafthouse Cinema 

 You can eat AND drink while watching a movie! I saw Breaking Dawn Part 2 here. LOVE!

I have two favorite new things I tried this year. The other is blogging. Who knew this amazing, generous, creative world existed!  It's nerve-wracking to get started but y'all have been so wonderful to me, I'm glad I did it! :)

(Eight) Favorite Album:

Again, there are two.  I don't know why people are always hating on TS. I love her. :)

(Seven) Favorite thing you pinned:

Y'all, I have over 7,000 pins. I gotta pick one? 

 Ok, it's gotta be this Hey Girl pin. Ryan had me at, "Hey." 

(Six) Favorite Blog Post:

I haven't been blogging long so I don't have lots of posts to choose from. I really enjoy filling out Farley's currentlys and blog hoppin' to see what everyone is up to.

(Five) Best accomplishment:

Passing the last exam needed to get my bilingual certification.

(Four) Favorite pic:

I don't have a favorite picture that was taken this year so I'll go with one that was taken last year. 

 It's still my favorite this year. 

 

(Three) Favorite memory:

Watching my little sister walk across the stage and get her high school diploma. 

 

(Two) Goal for 2013:

 There are so many. Grow in my relationship with Christ, get a full-time teaching job, lose weight, and get my TpT store going. Just to name a few.

 

(One) One Little Word:

Faith.

In 2013 I am going to step out in faith like never before. I say that I trust God but lately my actions haven't really reflected that.  That's gonna change in 2013. 

Are y'all gonna watch the Michael Bublé Christmas special tonight? You know I am. ;) 

Giveaways everywhere!

Another short post today. Lots of giveaways going on right now. Here are a few you should check out. :)

Angela Nerby over at the adorably titled, Hippo Hooray for Second Grade is hosting a 102 follower giveaway!

Click the pic to go to her blog!

The lovely Cindy from Primary Reading Party is having a 200 followers/Christmas giveaway! 

 Click the pic to go to her blog! 

 Tips for Top Teachers is having a huge giveaway! 

 Click the pic to check it out! 

Sweet Brigid from Brigid's Daily Lesson Log is giving away items from her TpT store.

Click the pic to visit her blog!

Marcy from Saddle Up for 2nd Grade is having a different kind of giveaway. Not only is she a teacher but she's a teacher that makes really cute jewelry. For her first giveaway, she's giving away a pair of Swarvoski crystal Christmas tree earrings! 

 Click the pic to go to her blog! 

She's a new blogger like me so show her some love! :) 

Aimee from Primarily Speaking has reached 300 followers and is having an awesome giveaway! 

 Click the pic to visit her blog!

Happy Thursday, friends! It's almost time for The Vampire Diaries!