Top 2 Tuesdays... Favorite Things About Summer!

I haven't done this in a few weeks either, but I love this week's "Top 2 Tuesday!" My #1 favorite thing about summer shouldn't shock anyone....

NO SCHOOL!!!!!!! I really do love my job, but it's nice to have 10 weeks off! I do work at a summer camp so I don't get bored which happens after about a week off, but it's no outside planning on my part and minimal planning at work. It's a nice change of pace and I get to be outside in the sun!

My other favorite thing is being able to wear cute sundresses and sandals! This is an example of an outfit I'd wear. I own both of these items! :)

Benefit 2010

Every year, my school has a huge fundraiser in the form of a big party with an auction that raises close to, if not a million dollars for our school. It's like a wedding, but no bride and groom. This year it was at the Ritz Carlton and the theme was "Earth, Wind, and Water." They booked a venue that was  too small, so we were not allowed to bring dates, which pissed a lot of people off, but I still had a lot of fun!

We were at an "Earth" table. This was our centerpiece. I thought it was really pretty!

My date for the evening, Shannon. Jeff actually drove us to the venue so we could drink and do whatever we wanted, and he picked us up later. In the meantime, he went to Empire City in Yonkers, NY (about 30 min from the venue) to play on the slot machines!

Our table minus Chad who took the picture and Dara who had to miss the benefit because her niece was born the same day! It was the first child for any of her siblings, so she's a brand new aunt!

Here's some pics from benefits in the past. I've been to 4 benefits total including this one, but I can't find any pics of the second year's benefit. That one was lame because the theme was western and we had to wear jeans, which felt very odd at a nice venue. I only took 4 pictures at that one anyway.

My first benefit- the theme was "All Things Sweet." I really love a candy/sugar theme, so this was my favorite one so far.

Last year's wasn't a benefit, but a really huge retirement party for the very first headmaster our school ever had and his wife who were both there for well over 30 years. It was at Chelsea Piers, NY.

Show Us Your Life- How Did You Meet Your Husband?

I haven't participated in awhile, but I love this week's "Show Us Your Life" from Kelly's Korner.

I need to give a little background before I tell you how Jeff and I met. I dated someone else for 3.5 years, and one night after a friend and I got back from my very first Elton John concert in November 2006, my now ex called me and dumped me over the phone! I knew the relationship was pretty much over before he did that, I was just scared to end it myself because it was my first really serious boyfriend. Anyway, I was sad for a bit, but then got over it in about 2 weeks, which totally shows how crappy that relationship had become if I could get over it so fast when we were together for so long. I was out with some girlfriends one night and I was complaining that it was hard to meet guys because I'm a teacher, work with mainly women, and any of the guys at work were either married or too old (not that I really wanted to date people I worked with) and I hate going to bars. My friend Rissa suggested doing Match.com and I figured why not? I was embarrassed about it at first, but now I don't care at all.

I talked to a few guys on there, went on a few dates, but they didn't work out. One guy was just weird and seemed dsperate and the other expected me to sleep with him on the third date. I am not that kind of girl (and no I am not judging anyone who sleeps with a guy early. I have friends who do that, it's just not me), so you can figure out how that little relationship thing ended. I had been chatting with Jeff on and off (he found me on the site and started it), nothing major, and he actually thought I wasn't interested becuase I'm shy and was not super friendly on AIM! One night my brother and I had a couple of drinks, which makes me really chatty, and I logged onto AIM, Jeff IMed me, and we talked all night! After chatting online for a couple weeks, we decided to meet for the first time at a Starbucks in December 2006, a couple weeks and 2 more dates later, we were official and the rest is history! Spending $50 to join Match.com for a few months was the best money I've ever spent! Online dating sites can work, we're living proof! :)

My school's benefit (we have one tonight actually) in 2007.

Our engagement July 18, 2008. This was a re-enactment, but the same night and place where he proposed. I will always regret that I did not look cute, but it was humid out and I didn't think he was ever going to actually propose haha! Also, notice my awesome sock tan from working at a day camp and wearing sneakers all the time!

Our friends Dara and Ben's wedding August 2008.

Our wedding July 3, 2009.

Admit it!

One of my favorite blogs to read is Happy Meals & Happy Hour. She is hilarious and a great read! Today, she posted about Facebook, which I'm obsessed with (my husband dated the creator of Facebook's sister for a few years way back in his Harvard days) and she talked about a lot of groups she's in. One of them is "Things I'm Embarrassed To admit I Like" and she asked her readers to join in and share what they're embarrassed to like! I thought this was fun, so here's my list. Notice that a lot of it revolves around what I choose to watch on TV:

* Rock of Love/Rock of Love Bus

* Really cheesy 80's music such as Wham!'s "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go," Soft Cell's "Tainted Love" or Dexy's Midnight Runner's "Come On Eileen." I love it all.

* All the Disney songs on my ipod

* Drinking right out of the bottle/carton

* Rap music! I am the last person you'd expect to like rap, but I love it!

* Keeping Up With The Kardashians/Kourtney and Khloe Take Miami

* Kendra. Used to love "The Girl's Next Door" too when it was the original 3

* Wine coolers!

* Cheesy pop music- BSB, Britney, NSYNC, etc.

* The "Twilight" series. I'm not a crazy psycho fan, but I really loved the books and read all of them within a week.

* Celebrity gossip sites- not a trashy as TMZ, but I read my fair share of crap.

* "19 Kids and Counting"

and the worst one of all...

*Playing the "Lord Of The Rings" computer RPG with my husband...

What things are you embarrassed to admit you like?

100!

I have 100 followers! I can't believe it! It amazes me that anyone wants to read all of my random nonsense, but I'm glad that you do! I love blogging and all of the sweet people I've "met" through this!

I took today off of work because I needed a mental health day. 2 weeks straight of teaching, getting observed, and weekend classes hit me pretty hard this morning, so I sent in sub plans and relaxed all day while watching "Sex and the City!" It was nice and I so needed it! My allergies have been awful the past few days as well! Anyone else? Anyway, it was a nice surprise to hop on my blog today and see that I hit 100! I never thought I'd hit that number! :)

Weekend and Stuff

I apologize for all the weekend posts. I feel like I have nothing else to write about! Hopefully that changes soon!

Thursday we went to NYC to meet up with my MIL, SIl, and Jeff's cousins from Indiana who I've never met. They're in their 40's and one of them is becoming a grandmother for the 9th time soon! I told my MIL that she will never be the grandmother of 9 kids and my SIL agreed haha! We had a nice dinner at Tony's, but I made the mistake of saying that Jeff and I lived together before getting engaged and married. I got a death glare from Jeff and he told me later that I shouldn't have said that because they will judge. My response? "Who the hell are they? We did nothing wrong, there's nothing to be ashamed of, and we're freaking married now, so who cares!?" They were very nice and didn't seem to care at all, if they did, they kept it quiet which is fine. 

Friday it was off to class again, which was OK. This teacher knew what he was talking about more, but I didn't like him. He got annoyed with me for sitting in the 3rd row out of 5. He said it was too far back and to move up. Fine, but it was his tone of voice that I didn't like and I sat back there because I didn't want to be the creepy person that sits next to someone when there's 5,000 other seats.

Saturday I had class and he kept us the whole 8 hours with only 45 minutes off for lunch. He also never offered bathroom breaks, so we all felt we had to wait for him to go make copies or whatever to use the restroom. He gave off a vibe that he would get pissed if you went during a discussion. TMI, but I pee A LOT, always have, so this was difficult for me, but I managed. I have an assignment due for class in a couple weeks that I have to snail mail in because this old teacher doesn't believe in e-mail. It was a painful class because we literally just talked for hours! The topic was CT laws related to teacher's rights and it was interesting, but since I'm in a private school, none of it applied to me and I felt it was a waste of time. After class, we went to visit our friends Dara and Ben. We had delicious pizza at a place near their apartment, then went to see "Date Night." The movie was hysterical and really cute, but I felt all the funny parts were shown in the trailers for the movie, so there was nothing new in the movie! I still enjoyed it though and the bloopers at the end were the best part of the movie. We went back to Dara and Ben's apartment and watched the rest of that ridiculous 20 inning Mets vs. Cardinals game (Dara and Ben are big Mets fans) and ate fresh baked chocolate chip cookies! It was a really great night!

Today I cleaned the house, worked out, lesson planned, and finally got a chance to watch "Real Housewives of NYC." All I can say is that Jill is such a mean girl and not a fashion expert so she did not need to criticize everything that came down the runway. It was rude and there was no reason for it. Ramona looked absolutely ridiculous walking down the runway and I was grossed out by her and Mario when she asked him to renew their marriage vows. Ramona was also ridiculous at Jill's Kodak event and I just think she's nuts. I like the new housewife so far! Sometimes I think she looks really pretty, other times, not so much. I heard a rumor that Alex and Simon are leaving the show because Simon wants equal pay as the ladies and Bravo said no! Now I am watching the Yankees kick some Rangers' butt! :P

A Better Weekend Than Expected!

No final decision on a trip yet, but we are leaning towards a cruise right now. I'll keep you posted! :)

I really expected a relatively crappy weekend and it was actually really great! On Friday after Parent Visiting Day (which went very well), I had class from 4:00-6:00 and immediately could tell that the professor was wacky and the class was going to be super easy. I am taking a bunch of Friday and Saturday 1 credit classes (including one next weekend and one in May) because they're easy, no HW, and done within 2 days! The 2 hours on Friday flew by then Jeff, Shannon, and I went to The Melting Pot and stuffed ourselves silly! It was so fun!

On Saturday, I was scheduled to have class from 8:00am-4:00pm. The professor told us to come in at 8:30am instead. We had to give a presentation with a partner on a case study. Ours turned into "What's it like to teach at EHS?" since no one was really familiar with the school. I was paired with a guy from Nigeria, so he had some really cool and interesting things to say as well. After the presentations were over around 11:20, the professor gave us 30 minutes for lunch, and then told us we had to write a 1-2 page paper, print it, then we could go home. Most of us decided to work though the lunch break, so I was out of there by 12:20! It was so awesome and I got to nap when I got home! One of my classmates told me all of the classes are like this and are a total joke. I am only going to grad school because I HAVE to get a master's degree, not because I want one, so this program is perfect for me. I know that makes me sound like a brat, but I have a lot of other stuff going on and grad school is just an annoyance for me right now. I learn a lot about teaching from my school's professional development every Friday, but sadly, that won't get me a master's. After my afternoon nap, our friends Amy and Colin came over with their son Logan. Logan will be 2 in June and Amy is due with baby #2 in September! Logan entertained us until his bedtime, then we ordered thai food and watched "The Blind Side" since Amy and Colin had never seen it. I adore that movie!

Today, I lesson planned, did laundry, washed our sheets, worked out, and watched TV! I love lazy Sundays and I feel ready for the work week!

Busy week coming up. I have work, then on Thursday evening we are going to NYC to see my MIL, SIL, and some of Jeff's cousins from Illinois that I've never met. I have class next Friday and Saturday, then we are seeing our friends Dara and Ben on Saturday night. I love keeping busy!

Easter Weekend Recap

Thank you all so much for all the trip suggestions! I will let you know when we've made a decision! :)

We had a nice weekend! 

On Friday we went to LI once I got home from work (yes I work in like the only school in the USA that is open Good Friday. Starting next year we will be closed tho) and Jeff fixed my tire! I had a small leak which was making it pretty flat, so Jeff got some stuff from the hardware store and it's been fine ever since. We had dinner at Chili's, as usual when we go to LI, since we love that place and the closest one to us is almost an hour away, so we don't go a lot.

Saturday we hung out and then saw "The Bounty Hunter." I thought the movie was cute, but not my favorite chick flick and it was very predictable, as expected. You could probably wait to rent this one too, but I did enjoy it. We had dinner from KFC, which was awesome since I never eat food from there, and then just relaxed.

Sunday we went to church (the one we were married in) which was nice, but all the lilies inside gave me a bad allergy attack and I was in a haze the entire service! I felt much better when we got to leave the building! In the afternoon we went to brunch at my husband's Aunt and Uncle's house (they hosted our rehearsal dinner in their backyard last year.) It was nice to see a bunch of family and eat a lot of yummy food! When we got home, the cable and internet were out for a few hours and I was so lost without my internet! We watched the Yankees vs. Sox game and all I can say is wow. How the hell do you blow a freaking 4 run lead and wind up losing by 2 runs? I was so disappointed in them, but they started sucking, so that's that.

Today was back to work, which was great, but I got into a fender bender on my way home! I was at CVS and I checked behind me 4 times before backing out, but I still hit some dude's car! He wasn't very nice to me at first, in fact he wouldn't even talk to me! I called the police, and when the officer came, I started crying (this was my first time ever being in an accident period) and he calmed me down, told me it was so minor that there was no need to file a report, just exchange info and decide if we want to pay out of pocket or have insurance cover it. We're waiting for the estimate on the other guy's car tomorrow before we decide. My car is fine, just 2 scratches, and more importantly both of us were fine. The guy was nicer to me when he saw me crying like a loser in front of the cop and when I said sorry for the millionth time, he told me it was OK, but that he has bad luck and every time he's been hit it was by a woman! I was like, "ok?" I am a crappy driver and am the first to admit it, but really? Jeff was great about it and I feel a lot better now. I was so shaken up though and I hope that never happens again!

Friday is going to suck. It's my least favorite day of the school year: Parent Visiting Day. It's exactly what it sounds like- 1 parent comes to class with their kid. We always play fun games and stuff that day, but it's nerve wracking and I hate it! The kids act up, and I have a pretty famous parent who I will have to see twice since I teach his daughter 4th and 7th periods! She was very interesting in my classroom with her dad there last year, so we'll see how it goes! After dinner and my class though, Jeff and I are going to The Melting Pot with Shannon, which will be fun!