All though Fall is right around the corner in many regions of the United States, in Georgia we still have at least two more months of warm Summer-ish weather! Don’t get me wrong, I love a Southern Summer day by the coast, but sometimes my soul longs for the crisp Fall air and a mountain view. Today I am dreaming about Aspen!
Okay, I am a little late on this post (there are only 2 more hours left of “National Dog Day,” but I can’t resist posting about Miss Lily-UR-So-Pretty-Harvey!
Well, technically we just call her Miss Lily…
Tricks and Talents:
-Napping
-Begging for food/treats
-Giving “shuggy”
-Being “squishy” (she doesn’t like the word fat!)
-Cuddling (A.K.A making “Lily Sandwiches” between Hubby and I)
-Tearing up any stuffed animal in sight (even though she will drag it’s decapitated body all around and sleep with it beside her at all times!)
-Running away if you ask her if she “Needs a Bath!”
Obsessed?? …..yeah….just a little!
Happy National Dog Day!
I know that we haven’t celebrated Labor Day yet, but I can’t stop feeling that the end of the year will be upon us at any moment. I have already started making a Christmas list for the family, and so it just seems natural that I should start thinking about next year’s bucket list.This year has been pretty much consumed with planning for Baby Addie (although I still feel like we haven’t done nearly enough…) and I am sure that next year will (and all subsequent years) will also revolve around this little girl who already has her daddy wrapped around her finger!
However, as my belly starts to grow and stretch farther than I thought humanly possibly (and the pounds keep coming…), I am determined more and more next year to push my body towards a seemingly unreachable personal goal. In 2014 I want to run a 1/2 marathon. I know that millions of people around the world run these events each year, and even further….however for me 13 miles might as well be 13,000 miles! This task (and the marathon) have been on my bucket list for years, however with the baby bump and the added pounds I feel like being to accomplish this task post-baby would make the reward that much sweeter. So I registered for the jogging baby stroller and penciled this 1/2 marathon onto the 2014 bucket list. I have a couple of 10Ks that I am looking at completing as well before the November 2014 Rock-n-Roll Marathon on Savannah, so wish me luck! (Now that this is in cyber-space somewhere instead of just floating around in my head I think I will have more motivation to make it happen…)
Bucket List Inspiration: “10 Bucket List Marathons”
So, I know that the weather outside has been rainy and muggy, but I still can’t help fantasizing about the crisp autumn breeze and cinnamon and pumpkin spice in the air! Honestly, I don’t think I really have a favorite season, but I am always ready for the NEXT one to come around. In the middle of dreary February I daydream about Springtime, and in March I can hardly wait to start my tan at the Beach. So, it should come to no surprise that on the brink of a new season I am chomping at the bits to get Fall started!
I have just hit the 6 1/2 month pregnancy mark, and if you can’t tell from the Color Run pictures from last week I am sporting a newly-found bump. Many of the students at my new school have noticed that I am carrying a little package in my tummy, however only one little girl has been brave enough to ask me! (She begged me not to give her extra homework or be mad at her before she asked me if I was expecting! I really wanted to play a joke on her and pretend that I had no clue what she was talking about….but the way she asked was too cute, so I told her the truth!)
This year we are sure going to have an eventful Fall (Welcome Baby Addie!), and I am sure that I will be tired carrying my “pumpkin” around with me all day, however I still want to enjoy this wonderful time of year (plus I still have some items on my 2013 Bucket List that I need to take care of ASAP!)
Here are some of our plans for Fall:
1. Music Midtown Concert in Atlanta (Red Hot Chili Peppers, Imagine Dragons, Journey, Weezer, and more!)
2. Read more from my “To Read Library Book List” (I have a few personal finance books that I want to check out, a few about parenting, and then some fiction fantasy just for fun!)
3. Carve a pumpkin (We try to do this every year. I like to pull out the pumpkin guts and cook the seeds, while Hubby does the actual carving!)
4. Apple Picking Weekend in Ellijay, GA (I think that we are going to rent a cabin with a few friends and celebrate on the very last weekend of pregnancy that I am cleared to travel….haha!)
5. Make some Fall Wreaths for all my family (Look at the one I made tonight at Ladies Craft Night at Church!)
6. Make s’mores!
7. Go watch my sister’s high school football games and watch her during marching band performance.
8. Go back and see a college football game (and tailgate!)….I really don’t care too much for football, but I enjoy getting together with friends and eating! 🙂
9. Get a head start of Christmas shopping! (With all the excitement coming at the beginning of December, I need to start thinking about this now, or everyone will be getting a picture of Addie and a gift card!)
10. Go to a local Oktoberfest festival
11. Take maternity pictures!
12. Eat greasy food at the County Fair
13. Make my 2014 Bucket List!
14. Make chili
15. Go on a date night to a nice (read expensive) restaurant
16. Starting a Bible study with friends.
17. Having a baby! (ya know…no big deal… I got this….)
What do you have planned this Fall?
Weekly Update
Well, we (my students and I) have almost survived the first week of school. I have managed not to hit the snooze at all this week, the house and laundry are still well-kept, and I have tried to do at least a little bit of physical activity each day after work. All in all I would say that this week has been a success. Today got even better when Baby Addie and I got a healthy check-up at the doctor. They still think that Addie is going to be pretty big, but her heartbeat is nice and strong and my blood pressure is right on target! Although I am definitely feeling more fatigued, I feel her kicking all day and that reassures me that we are on the right track. (She is trying to kick the laptop as we speak!)
How am I going to top off such a great first week of school? I am glad you asked!! Waring and I are signed up for the COLOR RUN in downtown Savannah this Saturday. It will actually be more of a Color WALK for me, but I am just excited to knock this one off the bucket list and have something out of the ordinary to do! Ran or shine, I am sure we will have a blast. Don’t worry, there will be pictures!
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Ultimate American Bucket List
If you had to choose the 20 must-see/most iconic landmarks to visit in the United States, what would they be? Budget Travel has recently posted their must-see list! How many of these places have you visited? (Click here to read the full article!)
Here are the ones of the list that I have crossed off:
1. National Mall, Washington D. C.
2. Las Vegas
3. Times Square New York
4. Nashville, TN
5. Grand Canyon, AZ
6. Disney’s Magic Kingdom, FL
8. Independence Hall Philadelphia, PA
9. Fenway Park Boston, MA
10. South Beach Miami, FL
11. Civil Rights District Atlanta, GA
12. Gettysburg, PA
13. Architecture in Chicago, IL
14. Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY
14 out of 20…not too shabby…but still not satisfied!
I. Survived. The. First. Day. Of. Middle. School.
Getting back into the groove is always a little challenging. Waking up is usually easier for me on the first day, because I am still one of those kids who can’t sleep before any big event (Christmas, School, Vacations, Etc…) I was out the door 15 minutes early and had class set up and prepared before a single student showed up to my door for home room! MISSION ACCOMPLISHED! Class went by without a hitch today (relatively speaking) and the bell rang for dismissal after a whirl wind day. It was a pretty fabulous first day of school, but I forgot how tiring teaching is. You have to be “on” all the time. You have to be up all the time (and at 6 months pregnant that feat is becoming more difficult by the day). I am currently sitting on the couch with my feet elevated and hoping that the swelling in my feet will go down! I am wondering how comical this adventure is going to become by the time I am 8 or 9 months pregnant!
I wish all the other teachers out there a great week back to school. Say a prayer for all of us and our students. It is going to be a great year!
Open house at the STEM Academy is tonight! We have worked hard this week and are so excited to meet these great students who are the first to experience the awesomeness that is STEM education here in Savannah!
(Three….Hours…Later….)
Whew!! Ok, the open house is over and everyone is gone. All but 16 8th graders showed up with there parents! Many of the parents were so excited about the school that they said they wanted to actually come to school with their child because the classes seemed to awesome! I can’t believe how blessed I truly am to have I job that I love! (Now I need to go rest before Monday’s madness begins!)
Here are just a few pics from the night!
With the school year gearing up to start next week (pre-planning is this week), getting into the daily grind is pretty much inevitable. I like budgets, lists, and structure….they are comfortable for me, however I know by the beginning of October again I will be begging for the freedom to sleep in and run around town aimlessly! With school, and grad school, and 3rd trimester looming I want to make sure that I get this Bucket List item checked off this weekend! CHECK IT OUT!
Have no clue what I am talking about? Take a look!
August 10-13, 2013 before dawn, the Perseids
The Perseid meteor shower is perhaps the most beloved meteor shower of the year for the Northern Hemisphere. The shower builds gradually to a peak, often produces 50 to 100 meteors per hour in a dark sky at the peak, and, for us in the Northern Hemisphere, this shower comes when the weather is warm. The Perseids tend to strengthen in number as late night deepens into midnight, and typically produce the most meteors in the wee hours before dawn. They radiate from a point in the constellation Perseus the Hero, but, as with all meteor shower radiant points, you don’t need to know Perseus to watch the shower; instead, the meteors appear in all parts of the sky. They are typically fast and bright meteors. They frequently leave persistent trains. Every year, you can look for the Perseids around August 10-13. They combine with the Delta Aquarid shower (above) to produce the year’s most dazzling display of shooting stars. In 2013, the Perseid meteors will streak across the short summer nights – August 10-13 – from late night until dawn, with little to no interference from the waxing crescent moon. Plus the moon will be near the planet Saturn in the evening hours, giving a colorful prelude to late-night Perseid show. Best mornings to look: August 11, 12 and 13 http://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/earthskys-meteor-shower-guide
The Plan:
Go to the Highway 21 Drive-In (love that place!) to watch the new Smurf Movie and Grown-ups Two and then drive around to the middle of no where to find a good spot to view the magic in the sky! I wish that I had learned more of the constellations before now…but that’s life!
Hope you guys are having a good week? Are you doing anything fun before school starts back?
I will be six months pregnant next week. That feels very weird to say….and even stranger to live out. I feel like my belly isn’t HUGE yet, however I am already starting to be uncomfortable sleeping at night, and Hubby complains that Miss Lily and I are hogging the whole bed. When I wake up I feel like I have ran a marathon…EVERYTHING HURTS! But, I am convinced that this and the constant heartburn are normal, so bring it on third trimester!
As I get ready to begin month six, I have just a few confessions to make. Remember…this is a NO JUDGEMENT BLOG! (If ya don’t like it…don’t read it!)
Confession #1: It still doesn’t feel real. I am pretty sure they are going to send me home with a little human in about three months and it STILL won’t feel real…but I will let you know how THAT goes when the time comes.
Confession #2: I love CHERRY COKE from Sonic! Yes, I know caffeine is apparently the devil for pregnant women, but my doc said 8oz of caffeine a day is fine. She probably doesn’t want me drinking all the sugar in cherry coke…but a small Sonic Cherry Coke once or twice a week is fine. DO NOT JUDGE ME! DO NOT LECTURE ME! I stick to my recommended caloric intake for the day, steer clear of most other junk foods, don’t give into cravings for chips and dessert (that often), and I exercise several times a week! LET. ME. HAVE. THIS. ONE. THING!
Confession #3: I don’t like feeling helpless! I think a lot of mothers-to-be enjoy being waited on, catered to, looked after, and worried about…BUT NOT ME! I would much rather feel like I have the independence to pick up a sack of potatoes, eat what I want, and do what I want without consulting a physician! I can’t even use my normal face wash or take Ibuprofen!!! YEESH!
Confession #4: There is not a stitch of pink in Baby Addie’s nursery. No, I am not one of those “pink haters,” but it just seems like there are only four colors in baby world (pink=girl, blue=boy, green/yellow=gender neutral). Addie’s nursery is nautical, so we will use gray and navy blue with accents of coral and yellow…but not hot pink. Yes, she will have pink clothes, and blankets,and toys I am sure. Like I said…I don’t hate pink.
Confession #5: I forgot what #5 was….(Just kidding), but this whole pregnancy brain thing is for real! Yesterday morning alone I tried to pour cereal in Hubby’s drink cup (witch his drink still in it) and put the jelly lid on the butter! I think it is more absent-mindedness than anything, but it makes me feel a little cray-cray!
Confession #6: I like mother earth, I try to eat “clean” when I can, and I recycle, but I am not into the whole natural childbirth. Yes, I am well aware that you, someone your know, or your mother may have given birth to a 10lbs baby at home, in a bath tub, at the birthing center, or without any pain mediation….BUT THAT AIN’T GONNA BE ME SISTA! Sign me up for epidurals-r-us!
I think that is probably enough for now….and I am ready for nap!
Daily Drops in the Bucket 