hey there december.

i can not believe that today is the 20th! this has surely been the quickest month yet! i really thought november went fast but goodness, it's already (nearly) christmas! i accomplished quite the christmas miracle and started and finished all my christmas shopping in two hours the other night!

well, and plus 20 minutes today for last minute gifts.

everything is close to being wrapped. i am still waiting on Tim's gift. i am about to kill the company i ordered it from. you don't mess with me and my impatience at christmas time... seriously.

this month has been great in the classroom! my kids are really coming along with their writing, letters, numbers, behavior, everything! they are growing up! :)

 

ornaments :)

 

gift bags we made!

 

shaving cream "snow" names, words, numbers, etc.

 

Polar Express Day! the kids wore their pajamas to school and we watched Polar Express and then "Santa" came and brought them all a bell off the reindeer harness :)

i also had a terrific 25th birthday! i went with katie and jennifer to wine and canvas. it is a place where they teach you how to paint a picture and you drink wine. perfect combination! we then went to the cheesecake factory after for more drinks, appetizers and cheesecake.

 

the original one the artist painted.

 

my version :)

 

girls and our finished paintings!

1 day left of teaching until vacation!

4 days until christmas!

6 days until connecticut & tim!

11 days until I move into my apartment in carmel!

loooovvin those countdowns.

now you're in newww yorrrkkkk!

For the thanksgiving holiday, Tim invited me to spend it with him and his family in Connecticut, and also to spend my birthday in New York City. I was beyond excited and literally had a countdown going as soon as the tickets were bought!

I got to the airport in New York City and was just elated to see Tim again! My suitcase came very quick (surprisingly) , after a few delays in Philly. It felt like I was never going to get there! After he picked me up we drove into Connecticut and I met his brother and Dad. After relaxing for a few, his mom came home from work, we enjoyed some fun conversation and wine (of course). Later that evening we joined his aunt and uncle with their family for dinner. We all sat at the table wearing tissue paper crowns and playing with trinkets from these "poppers" his aunt had gotten. I wish I had taken a picture, but here is something I found on the internet.

You pull each side and inside the middle piece are prizes! It was fun to see what everyone got. Again, I really wish I would have taken pictures. I am sure we all looked silly in our crowns and playing with our "toys" (whistles, ring toss, notebooks, gold watches, dominoes... :)

Thanksgiving was the next day. It was such a wonderful day full of relaxing, eating, drinking and OF COURSE football! Now, I am not a football fan (we all know this) but, I didn't mind :) Tim and I went to the beach and took some pictures. At dinner that night we all sat at one big table and enjoyed each others company. It was a picture perfect moment. I could not help but smile.

 

the beach behind Tim's house

 

The next day I met more family and friends. Tim and his brother Ben had a party on Friday night at their house where I pretty much met everyone they grew up with and went to high school with. It was so nice to put names with faces. Everyone was extremely welcoming and nice! I felt like I fit right in :) I am excited to see them all again.

Saturday was the big "birthday" day for me :) We left for NYC that morning and met up with Natalie and Jake downtown. Mini China reunion!!  We ate at a place called Hummus Kitchen. Natalie is an expert at finding awesome places. In China, she was always finding great spots. Nat and Jake walked us to the theater for Wicked. On the way someone was moving out of their apartment and they had stuff for free in the street. Jake picked up a dart board set named "The Bandit". Just like China times, Jake making everyone laugh.

 

Next, and it only takes one word: WICKED! The main reason we came to the city! It. Was. Amazing!! I was totally amazed at everything. I couldn't take pictures inside, but the set, the actors, the costumes, EVERYTHING. I seriously had goose bumps a few times. 

I have a great boyfriend. He gets the best gifts :)

After Wicked we visited Times Square, saw the Empire State building and then had dinner at a Spanish tapas place called Mercat. The food, atmosphere and drinks were so amazing!

(Ok, NYC itself is just amazing! I feel like I need new words other than "great", "awesome", "amazing"...)

We then went walked down Bleeker St. and found a cool little bar where we drank, laughed and just enjoyed being together. 

It was the best birthday I ever had.

Thank you, Tim :)

My last day we went to brunch with his brother Ben and his girlfriend, saw Serendipity, the cafe from one of my favorite movies (we wanted to go in but we knew the line would be so long), and walked around Central Park. We sat on a bench and talked for a long time. I loved that part. It was sweet and romantic.

 

ummm, hello? It's the Hotel Empire. Gossip Girl? Chuck Bass?

I won't lie. I pretended I was on Gossip Girl all weekend.

xoxo :)

Coming home was extremely hard. NYC was just unbelievable and being with Tim was wonderful! Good thing I will see him right after Christmas and then he is officially moving to Bloomington to go to IU. Being less than 2 hours away is much better than 15! 

Oh and p.s our hotel had an awesome view of the 9/11 Memorial. I had really wanted to see it but there were no reservations open!

T

There are 2 memorials actually but the picture I took had tons of construction in the way. This picture is much clearer. I stared out the window for awhile at it. It was very moving.

Truly, I <3 NY.

tie dye turkeys

coffee filters

crayola washable markers

spray bottle

turkey template

turkey sign - idea taken from the Chic-Fil-A ads, "Eat Mor Chikin!"

my kids LOVED it and we had a great time!

we colored the filters so that no white was showing first, or very little white.

next, we folded the filter into eigths.

then, we used a spray bottle and sprayed about 3-5 times.

and, voila! a tie dye turkey that was "too cool for school" :)

 

"stuffing" (it's kindergarten spelling :)

 

my favorite one, "mashed potatoes" or "mash batados" :)

 

"fruit salad"

happy late thanksgiving everyone :)

Lately in the Classroom

Here are a few things that have been going on in my classroom lately :)

Handprint Bats

Giant graphing of our 3D shapes!

 The students thought this was the "biggest graph in the entire world" and they got so excited! Oh to be a kindergartner again.

Learning to make mental images

 

& some great drawings by my students. This is supposed to be what they see in their head when I read the poem "My Neighbor's Purple Dog" :)

I am so very ready for Thanksgiving Break. Only 10 days away! I am ready for a solid 5 days of no classroom worrying, organizing, planning, etc. I don't know if these next 10 days will go fast enough for me. November surely is flying by already though. Where did October go? It went so fast.

I looked at some apartments last weekend. I'm seeing a move (to Fishers) in my future come January. Hooray!

my trip to annapolis & d.c.

Last weekend, Jennifer and I went and visited one of our best friend's from college Lauren and her husband, Jeff.

They moved to Annapolis, MD recently. Jen and I had decided awhile back that we should go visit them. Neither of us had been to MD before and I had never been to D.C.! So, we got plane tickets and made the journey over my fall break.

 I'll begin by saying, I LOVE the east coast. Everyone (ok, Tim I mean) had said that it's impossible not to love the east coast. I always knew that I would be in LOVE with it if I ever had the chance to visit, and it did not fail me. There is something that changes inside you when you are walking in a town that is near or has water. It always makes me feel happier (even though I hate swimming in oceans or lakes) just looking at water. So relaxing...

 

 

 

The first night Lauren and Jeff took us downtown Annapolis to a Mexican restaurant called El Torro Bravo. Of course we had Mexican :) We had some awesome food and some pretty strong margaritas. Let's just say, their were a lot of laughs and even some happy tears haha

The next day Lauren had to work so Jeff took off work and showed us Annapolis. We went to the mall for a little shopping and then headed downtown. 

 

It was SO pretty. I loved the feel of Annapolis! It's the capitol city but it has a small town feel to it. Little shops everywhere, cute pubs and restaurants and great houses. It's also the home of the United States Naval Academy (Go Navy).

 

Jeff walked us all around the city, Jen and I bought a NAVY sweatshirt and then we headed back to meet Lauren. We took it easy Friday  night and had some wine, pizza, and watched Bridesmaids :)

Saturday, we went to DC! Of course, with my luck, it had to be raining (and later snowing) in Annapolis and DC that day. But, it was still such an AWESOME day. I never thought I would absolutely love DC because I am not much of a history nerd or honestly even interested in history. 

DC definitely changed my mind. I wanted to see everything, and read everything! DC brought history to life for me! It was all tangible and right there in front of me. My only wish was that it would have stopped raining, sleeting, icing... etc.

First we went into the Smithsonian (since it was raining and cold) and I was able to see the original Star Spangled Banner. It set the tone for the whole day!

 

(The real flag was inside, behind this lit up piece, you weren't 

allowed to take pictures). 

I was literally in awe of it. It was so old and all the history about it was very interesting. We also saw things like Julia Child's kitchen, Dorothy's ruby slippers and... Michael Jackson's hat. Jennifer had a moment :)

  

miss you Michael... haha

 

Jen and her umbrella! And notice all the Asian tourists. I can't escape China!

 

We also visited the World War II monument, Lincoln, Korean War, the new MLK Jr monument, walked by Washington many times and took a peak at the White House!

 

 

  

  That evening we went back to MD (in the snow) and has some AMAZING Maryland crab cakes.

 

"Crab cakes and football, that's what Maryland DOES!" -- Wedding Crashers reference, anyone?

Our last day we went to church with them, walked around Annapolis some more (PERFECT weather I might add, of course...), had a quick lunch and flew back. Typical travel-heading-home-last-day-of-vacay day. 

One day (maybe) I will be seeing the east coast in my future as a place to live :) And, in 16 days I will be heading back to the east coast (Connecticut and NYC) to see Tim for Thanksgiving and celebrate my birthday in style. Did I mention that Tim got us a hotel for Saturday night in the city to end my birthday celebration? :) He never stops amazing me.