Sweet Friends and Bad Cheese Dip

This weekend was pretty low key.

It rained constantly and it was the perfect, 

stay in pajama pants 

and snuggle under a blankie, 

kinda weather.

Chris and I hadn't seen our sweet neighbors, Charlotte and Andrew, in a while

so we just invited them over to watch the Georgia Bulldog/ Tennessee football game.

I tried to make a pintrest recipe from the restaurant, Chili's, of knockoff 

skillet queso cheese dip

but something went wrong.

The dip looked great and smelled delicious bubbling in the crockpot.

I also know I followed the directions exactly, it's not like it was all that hard cutting up the cheese into little cubes and adding simple ingredients.

Still it had a kind of 'processed' taste to it,

it was hard to describe the weird taste,

but just something wasn't right.

So even though I made the dip,

I didn't offer any to our sweet friends,

because I knew something was wrong.

And boy am I glad I didn't offer any to them

'cause Sunday morning both Chris and my little tummies were upset.

I think my little block of velvetta cheese had gone bad.

Which is totally saying something, because that stuff has so much chemicals and preservatives, 

it probably takes it 50 years to expire,

but it was NO bueno:)

Even though there was no yummie half time snacks during the game,

I still loved having them over.

Chris and I have a lot of similarities with Charlotte and Andrew 

and we enjoyed listening to their college stories of dating and cracking jokes at seminary mishaps.

Sweet Brown

I guarantee this will be the best 42 seconds of your day

Chris and my new favorite saying is 

 I got bronchitis.... Ain't nobody got time for that!!

The Bad Guy

Sometimes being a teacher means having to be the "bad guy."

It drives me crazy how everyone thinks that we have it soooo easy.

Well...then allow me to enlighten you as to how it really is being a teacher......

-everyone, EVERYONE, thinks they could do your job better

- your job depends on your students performance, and yet you get bashed for 'teaching the test'

- precious children come in hungry and dressed in the same dirty clothes from yesterday, and it's not their fault they are like that

- fingers are pointed at you from all directions: from government officials, politicians, parents, fellow colleagues, school board members, students, and every john doe off the street

- hahah yea... so about that paycheck... OR I should say non existent paycheck

- you teach students who come to school with it already installed in their brains that teachers are a waste of their time

- you are in a classroom, in a district, where you have the most up to date technology, but STILL have to SHARE textbooks because there aren't enough for every child to have their own

- parents have NO fear scolding, threatening, or cussing you out through email, phone, or face to face over your decision to give their child a zero on work that is 2 weeks late

- you have no guaranteed job tenure, even for the next school year, until test scores come back. 

Again and yet you still get bashed for 'teaching the test'

- you have to be the sole disciplinarian to students who come to school after getting ABSOLUTELY none at home

- most people are just waiting for you to do something wrong so they can sue you

- 8 hour work day.... you wish.....

- in a constant state of being stressed out because you simply CAN'T accomplishe everything you are supposed to get done in one day

- VAM scores are seriously the devil

(go ahead if you don't know what a teacher vam score is go google it)

as the saying goes: your vamed if you do and vamed if you don't

- in the next couple of years you can look forward to what little salary you do make depending on how your students do on those tests

and yet you will still get bashed for 

'teaching the test'

- Common Core Standards.... yeah so let's change reform education again.... and next year, we're just going to reform it again... and the next year, well you get the idea

- people point to you and say, your the reason why society is so messed up today

- you put in HARD hours filling the needs of each and EVERY student, bbbuuuttt you get no appreciation for it

So there's my little rant for the day. Trust me, your child's teacher is going through a lot more than you could ever possibly know. And the fact that She/He still puts a smile on and LOVES their job, is what makes us great.

Just so all know....

on top of all that I still love my job.

Those few kids who ARE appreciative, give hugs, smiles, and goofy drawings of you with a big head that you can hang on the wall near your desk

are what makes it all worth it:)

And to add... thank the sweet Lord for summers, cause out of anyone, he knows we deserve it! 

Free Stuff

This past week I had a blast getting to spend some free money on some random stuff for my classroom.

Yes I am a teacher.

Yes I LURVE school supplies.

And I was able to spend $293.51!

Yea for

FREE SMACKEROOS!

Anyways our school gets some kind of grant money from the government and it is divided among the teachers.

There are some catches though.

We can order from only 3 websites

and we can only order consumable materials.

For example:

You can order staples because you use the actual staples,

but you can not order a stapler because you can not use up a stapler.

I ordered all kinds of stuff.

Construction paper, several 3 lb. bags of CANDY, poster boards, the mega pack of post it notes, folders, trifolds, manila folders, 

and the list goes on and on.

OH also how could I forget my ONE highlighter that I bought.

I was determined to use up all of my $293.51

and when I only had $1.80 left I just bought one highlighter to finish it off:)

My first load of goodies! This was only a dent into all that I was able to order!

It was exciting to get to open up the box and see what all had arrived. A little bit like a kid on Christmas Morning.

Here's to hoping the rest of my stuff comes in tomorrow! 

Fall Wannabe

Fall Weekend...

well I guess you can call it fall here.

Chris and I are desperate for fall

and miss the beautiful weather in those GA mountains during this time of the year.

Fall in NOLA is just a tease.

Yesterday I think the temperatures were in the mid 80's but you still have to remember 

that heat index, so I have no idea what the "feels like" temp was.

Plus we have no leaf changes here.

Nope... 

everything just stays green.

Even the grass, it just stays the same green.

No oranges, reds, or yellow:(

If your gonna wear a cute scarf

you have to pair it with a tank top to keep from sweating to death in the humidity.

So Chris and I spent some us time just exploring on our Fall Wannabe weekend.

We started off by eating some delicious sushi.

We ordered three rolls.

In order from left to right they are

Special Crunchy Roll, Blue Crab roll, and Spicy California Roll.

Chris and I don't really eat any of the raw stuff. All of the stuff above is cooked. 

My favorite is the Special Crunchy Roll because it has yum yum sauce on top.

I tell ya' you can put yum yum sauce on anything and make it taste good.

We ordered way to much and stuffed our bellies full, even leaving three pieces on the plate cause we just couldn't shove down anymore.

Then we drove down Magazine Street. Having a blast at just people watching.

The weather was beautiful and there was a slight breeze in the air,

so EVERYONE and their brother was out and about.

I have always wanted to go inside the Magazine Antique Mall

but the few times we have been buy it has always been closed.

I was excited to find it open so Chris and I spent a while in here.

We had fun poking jokes at all the crazy stuff NOLA finds antique.

We found a crazy $1,000 dollar lamp that I touched before I knew it cost that much,

lots of real fur coats

(seriously who would buy a fur coat here. It will NEVER get cold enough to wear it),

tons of old beer bottles,

and lots of ugly little figurines.

The store was packed with goofy knick knacks and it was neat walking through making fun of the stuff.

Then Sunday I set my sights on making these bad boys.

Yes Sir...they are pumpkin muffins with a yummy cream cheese filling.

Of course they were a little complicated to make,

I had to freeze the filling for a couple of hours and then cut it up,

then mix the batter just so,

then layer the ingredients in the muffin pan,

but we enjoyed making them,

and of course eating them.

This sounds totally weird,

but sometimes dirtying everything in the kitchen and spending 2 hours to make muffins can actually be fun:)

Here's what ours turned out to look like.

Totally not as pretty as the picture,

but they still were the bomb. And the filling on the inside is yummy yummy.

Here's the link we used to make the muffins:

http://www.annies-eats.com/2010/10/08/pumpkin-cream-cheese-muffins/

Jammin'

Don't tell me Christians don't know how to jam,

and that we are only good for those slow old- timer gospels.

I LOVE the old red back hymns,

but sometimes when I am cruising in downtown NOLA I need something with a little more beat,

and the slow drawn out lyrics of

'precious Jesus hold my hand',

just aint gonna cut it.

Admit it,
most of the people I know who are Christians, don't actually listen to Christian music in the car.

Their stations are turned on Country or Pop,
so they themselves can get a little bit more temp instead of those oldie songs.

Have you ever listened to the WORDS
in some of those songs?? 

Trying to stick to my theme verse right now:
are you loving the Lord with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength?


Now, I am a BIG, HUGE, MAJOR
country fan,
but I made the switch of trying to listen to Christian music in the car back when I was in college. I still listen to country every now and then,
but primarily my radio is tuned into gospel.

Listening to Christian music in the car really makes a difference.
When I am driving alone, I am able to belt out my praises, without being ashamed of others hearing me. Cause even if those cars riding along beside me do happen to hear a beat of what I'm singing, maybe it will encourage them too to get some happiness that morning by switching stations. 

Thanks Toby Mac,

(or ya know, if your in with him like I am),

Thanks Toby 

for giving us this song, so I can sing my praises and still be jammin'.

.

Addicted

Chris and I have a problem.

A major problem.

We are addicts.

Serious addicts.

This goes up there among the list of crack, cocaine, alcohol, and ecstasy.

Jack Bauer, we adhere to your guidelines, 

and recently our lives have been given over.

Yes this is a television show, and it came on years ago.

It portrays a man who is working for a branch of the government that is against terrorism.

Ummm Yeeeaaa,

so it's one of those shows where the main character, Jack,

will have multiple knife stab wounds,

shot in the thigh,

several broken ribs,

check cut from a grazed bullet

AND

still be running around chasing after those bad mens never missing a shot.

It is corny but so addicting,

and there are 8 seasons in all.

YES EIGHT.

We just finished up season 2, so we still have a LONG way to go.

Each season has 24 episodes, going through the 24 hours in one day.

Get the name

24?

So we have been through 48 episodes so far,

and still have a whopping 144 episodes to go.

Yepp... stuff just got serious:)

Hair Woes

So the other day I went and got my hairs did.

My original hair appointment was 

with my girl Mindy, 

who cuts at a great salon in Metairie and also gives me a killer deal on the price, 

during the week hurricane Isaac hit.

Well... Just THANK you Isaac, thank yooouuuu...

cause of course that appointment was cancelled,

and sweet Mindy is all booked up through October and poor thing is pregnant and couldn't fit me in her extremely packed schedule of having to make up everyone elses hair appointments that got cancelled. 

So eventually I was able to work with Mindy and her great salon to get me another appointment with a different hair stylist for last Saturday.

I was a little nervous.

See men just don't understand.

It is hard to find a good hair dresser that you trust to cut and color your hair they way you want it.

And I felt like I was cheating on Mindy.

Girls are finicky

(yes finicky is a word and it is 

spelled correct mother)

about their hair.

Cause if your hair just don't look right,

then your whole attitude of the day just shot right outta the park.

I'm pretty low key about my hair.

I mean just look at me on any normal day.

Usually hair is pulled up in a pony with bangs bobby pined back,

or half up half down,

or just down rockin' the afro.

(I LIVE IN A SWAMP. MY HAIR NEVER LOOKS GOOD HERE)

Anyways,

so me and this girl were chatting away about her new boyfriend,

and how her home got a little damage during the storm,

and how the salon has been busy,

and how I am a teacher,

and how men somehow always find a way to smell funny,

and how we want to have babbies one day

and... well you get the point,

girls and their hairdressers will just chit chat the day away.

When all of a sudden,

the thinning sheers came out 

and the sweet girl turned into Edward Scissor Hands.

She was just a jerking, grabbing hair, and cutting out gobs.

I had NEVER had thinning sheers done on me before.

Thinning Sheers are special scissors that only cut like every third hair so to reduce the bulky wight of your hair.

Well I have kind of thin hair, so I WELCOME bulk.

I want my hair to be thicker.

WHO USES THINNING SHEER ON A GIRL WHO HAS THIN HAIR!!!

Duhh...

SO now I am left with the thinnest hair I have ever possibley seen. It just lays there all stingy and flat. 

I tried pulling my hair up in a pony today and only 5 little hairs went though the elastic.

Its going to take MONTHS for me to grow back out those little hairs.

But mamma be'd proud!

NO I did NOT cry.

Cause mess'd up hair is not worth crying about.

I have only ever cried about my hair once in my life and that was when I was in middle school.

Now I am a big girl,

so even though my eyes 'might' have watered.

I sucked it up,

and told myself

I'm GONNA rock this!

and thank Goodness God lets hair grow back!

(me with my poor thin hair. Just look at those lifeless ends and how it sticks straight to my head)

Come to the Well

John 4:14

 but those who drink the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.

Last weekend

So Last weekend Chris and I headed down to Panama City for some fun in da sun.

But, it turned out to be more like some fun in the clouds and rain.

Even though we didn't get any sweet beach time,

and Chris and I returned to Nola paler than we were when we first arrived,

we had a blast hanging with the parentials. 

Daddy finally made my dream come true of standing inside the hurricane simulator.

Ever since Chris and I saw some little kiddies standing in this baby and their cheeks and hair all going wild, I have been envious.

So he said he would do it with me.

It was such a joke, and no way produced 75 miles per hour winds, 

but we had fun looking like idiots with the local security guard watching. 

After waking around pier park, 

and seeing a movie,

and eating at the Back Porch,

and people watching,

someone came up with the idea to play some mini golf.

It was the best game of putt put that I have ever experienced.

With a personal best of 3 holes in one during one game,

and everone else getting at least 1 hole in one,

you would think that the course was too easy.

But it all went down on the 18th hole, when my mother knocked her ball sooooo

hard that it went flying through trees, bushes, and other holes, bouncing and hitting a person we didn't know who was putting at the time, then continuing to bounce and eventually landing and stopping in the parking lot.

In all honestly we all almost wet our pants, we were laughing so hard!!!

I ONLY WISH I had it on camera to show it to all of you precious peeps. 

Daddy was being goofy. 

And Chris of course never shows any excitement in pictures.

Of course Chris won, then Daddy was in 2nd, me in 3rd, and Mama pulling up the cabusse.

I still think that the score keeper cheated, because I made 3 holes in one, and did a great game. I don't know how I came in 3rd!