Happy Birthday to my Sister!

Today is a very special, important day...it's my sister, Allyson's birthday!  If you don't know her, she's a beautiful woman, both inside and out.  She's got a heart of gold that she wears on her sleeve.  She's insanely independent, and will always put others before herself.  She was that sister who would be hard on me because she always wanted the best for me, but would stand up for me if I needed some back up.  She was the one who gave me endless amounts of advice on school, life, love and everything else.  She was the one who told me everything would be okay when I thought my world was going to end.  She's a hero in my eyes.

I couldn't be more thankful for her and the gift of her daughter that she has shared with my entire family.  She's raising Sarah to be a sweet, gentle, loving and happy baby.  I'm not sure that I could say that she could do anymore, because her daughter is just that happy.  

We may have our differences, but there's more about us that is the same than different.  She gets me better than anyone else, and I can't imagine my life without her.  The 3 hour traveling distance between us makes it difficult for us to see one another all the time, but when we do get back together it's like we never missed a beat.  

So today, especially, and every day, Ally, know that I love you for the woman you are.  You are the best sister anyone could have ever had, and I am so lucky to call you my best friend, too.  I hope you had an amazing weekend in the city, and I can't wait to celebrate with you, soon!  

On a cleaning warpath.

I woke up this morning with the urge to decorate our apartment for fall. I jumped up out of bed, excited to break out decorations that I haven't seen since over a year ago, but then I quickly realized that I really needed to clean first. Ugh. Cleaning.

My husband and I keep our place pretty clean. We can almost be labeled as neat freaks. We're the type of people who like to clean up after we make a mess. It's the dust that gets the best of our place--I like to blame it on the central air units and the ceiling fans. But seriously, where does all the dust come from?!

So, as soon as I got out of bed, I was on a cleaning warpath. I cleaned every room and scrubbed our bathroom down - yuck, worst part. My husband is working today, but I'm sure if he caught me in the middle of my cleaning warpath, he would've thought something was seriously wrong with me. I was on a mission...I even managed to do a few loads of laundry. I have no idea where the energy came from.

I'm now too exhausted to decorate for fall. But, there's always tomorrow, right?

High Five for Friday: Enjoying the Small Things, Always.

I'm so excited that the weekend is here! A few reflections on my week:

1. Walking outside. I was determined to be outside after school as much as possible this week. The weather has been absolutely beautiful and I want to enjoy what's left of it before the leaves start falling to signal that winter is on it's way. After a long day of work, I dream of coming home and putting on comfy clothes. However, there's really no better feeling than to be soaking up the fresh air outside. 

2. Surviving back to school night. It's one of those nights that teacher's anticipate and wait for. We also put a lot of planning into it - not only do we want the night to go seamlessly, but we want parents to understand and experience what we do with their children each day. It was a success and I'm glad it's behind us! :-)

3. Love Notes in my lunch bag. My husband tucked a little love note inside my lunch bag the other day. I noticed it when I was packing the rest of my lunch in the morning and it simply made my day. Enjoying the small things, always. 

4. Photo Gallery Wall Makeover. The monster project. With my burst of energy last weekend, I plucked over twenty frames off of the wall, tearing my gallery wall apart. I love the "fresh canvas" that I've created. Now I'm waiting for my husband's help to implement my new vision... 

5. Receiving books in the mail. I received a huge box of books in the mail this week - all for my classroom. I started reading the first chapter of each one and I'm hooked... I'm having trouble choosing one to stick with though. I'm eager to read them and then get them into the hands of my students. 

We're linking up with Lauren Elizabeth this week. Click on over for more awesome stuff!

High Five for Friday!

We are really getting back into the swing of things at school!  Routines are being nailed down, and the kids and I are learning so much about one another!  Here's how my week went:

1. Highlight of my Week:  Packing my stuff up at 3pm today and heading over to my parents to see my niece.  Sarah is spending the weekend with my parents while my sister and brother in law have a weekend away in New York City.  Seeing her sweet little face after a long week of work made everything so much better!

2. Date Night Fridays: Marc and I are starting to make Friday night a date night.  We take a couple hours to go to dinner and chat about what is going on and how our weeks went.  Even though we live together, we're both REALLY wrapped up in school, so the catch up time is necessary.  Marc informed me that he's halfway through the soccer coaching season, which means his schedule will slow down a little. :)

3. I'm starting to plan my best friend, Allyson's visit from Florida this upcoming weekend.  We're going dress shopping for her wedding!  It's going to be so much fun!

4. Planning on beginning a running regimen on Monday.  My friend Dana and I are planning on exercising again after school this year.  I am definitely craving some me-time!

5. Dawn's shower gift arrived in the mail this week and I'm getting super excited to celebrate the anticipation of the arrival of her baby!  I'll keep you updated on her gift...after the shower! ;)

Derek Jeter Commercials

I'm from New York, and was born a Yankee Fan.  I'm not the girl who watches every chance I get, but I will tell you that if you ask me which team is my favorite, my loyalty is with the Yankees.  My boyfriend is a Red Sox fan, and regardless of how much I love him, I'll never stop rooting for the pinstripes!

Derek Jeter is preparing to play his last games of the season, and the few commercials that commemorate his retirement are ones that will give you goosebumps!  Enjoy!

Thanks for the memories, Captain!

Photo Gallery FAIL

I love photo galleries... but I couldn't stand mine anymore! This is not mine...

A few months ago, I blogged about my photo gallery wall. I was really, really, really excited about it and I drove my husband absolutely insane throughout the process. And it was a process! Picking out the photos was fun, finding the right frames was even better, but trying to find the right arrangement on the wall was the worst part. No, leveling and making holes in the wall was the worst part!

After it was all complete, I loved it and I was in heaven! Having this display in the entryway was fabulous because I'd eye the photos whenever I came and left the house. It was perfection until the worst thing happened... I got tired of the display. {Insert sad, miserable face.}

I didn't get tired of the photos, I loved staring at them. But, I was just tired of the wall looking so cramped and full. I wanted a fresh, clean feel. Maybe it's a weird pregnancy symptom, but I just couldn't stand it anymore! I casually mentioned it to my husband one night as we were leaving for dinner. "Really? I like it," he said. My heart sank. I was hoping he'd at least somewhat agree with me. But regardless of what he said, the damn display was eating me alive.

So, the most awful thing happened... I took the whole display apart. I plucked each frame off the wall and my living room was covered in frames... everywhere! The wall was covered in little black holes from the nails and there were scratches underneath the frames from getting them to hang just right. Have no fear! I quickly filled the holes with Spackle, touched up the wall with paint, and voila... clean, fresh, spacious!

My husband walked in from work as I had just finished filling the holes with Spackle. "Oh, God. What are you doing?" he mumbled softly. "Don't worry, it's going to look great when it's all done!" I said. Poor guy. Go ahead and feel bad for him.

Photo gallery fail. Onto the next project. Gallery frames are still sitting in the living room and new frames are waiting to be hung... this weekend. Thank god tomorrow is Friday!

Favorite Recipe of the Week: Chicken Enchiladas

I made these Enchiladas on Monday night...and they are to die for.  Even better, they are SKINNY Chicken Enchiladas!  You can find the recipe here: Skinnytaste Chicken Enchiladas.  Thank you, to Skinnytaste for constantly bringing us awesome recipes!