Wild Wednesday

Ten Things Tuesday didn't happen, but I have a valid excuse. We were out late at the SHS soccer games~ this was the qualifying game for state finals, and both the boys and girls won! If they win, this will be two years in a row! I just finished watching a piece about our teams on the news! Go Lions!

We have to leave for church in half an hour and I still have to make (well, reheat) dinner, so this is a quickie post to hold everyone over until later. As I have said, I read several blogs, and my friends with kids always post the cute things their kids say and do. My students (and Bailey) are my kids, and so here are a few funny things they have said recently (with commentary):

Me: "Callie, I have something for you from the office."
Callie: "Oh good! I hope it's something that says I am smart so I can show it to my mom!"
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Karmen: "I did this wrong and now it's too late to fix it!"
Me: "Well, you could have asked me about it earlier this week."
Karmen: "I know, but you're never online, so I kept forgetting. When else do I have time to ask you stuff?"
Me: "During the 55 minutes we spend together every morning."
Karmen: "Oh yeah."

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Katie: "Do you have one of those books where you look up a word and it gives you a whole bunch of other words that sound smarter?"
Me: "Do you mean a thesaurus?"
Katie: "Yes, a thesaurus! Do you have a thesaurus?"

The above conversation with Katie happened yesterday, and then we had this one today after I graded her rough draft...

Me: "Katie, you used a word in your paper that I don't know. Where did you get the word 'datty-boiled'?
Katie: "From the thick-tion-saurus you gave me!"
Me: (trying so hard not to laugh) "And what does 'datty-boiled' mean?"
Katie: "Insane."
Me: "Then you should have used the word insane."
Katie: "But Mrs. White, you told us to be original, and I guarantee no one else used that phrase in their paper."

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More to come!!!!!

I'm it!

I was tagged! So here goes...

What I was doing 10 years ago:
I was finishing my freshman year in high school. I had just made Varsity cheer. That's all I can remember.

Five Things on My To-Do List Today:
1. Laundry (did some).
2. Update the Beta Club points (only did the seniors).
3. Quick WalMart trip (20 minutes!).
4. make grocery list for Harps (not done).
5. get to bed at a decent hour (not likely).

Things I Would Do If I Were a Billionare:
1. Pay off student loans!
2. Pay off all close family's debt (I'm sure that "close family" would be showing up left and right).
3. Donate.
4. Travel.
5. Save.
6. Hire a housekeeper, personal chef, and personal trainer.

Three of My Bad Habits (I had a hard time with this! just kidding!)
1. My students tell me that I "sniff my hair"too much. I'm not sniffing it, I'm using it to think. But it's weird, I know.
2. Adding too much soap to the washer and dishwasher.
3. Obsessively cleaning my desk at school.

Five Places I Have Lived
1. San Jose, California
2. Apple Valley, California
3. Searcy, Arkansas
4. in my own little world
5. to be announced

Five Jobs I Have Had
1. Dairy Queen Drive-Thru
2. Sanitation and Beautification Assistant (Catherine and I's fancy term for cleaning dental offices at night)
3. Harding Security "dispatcher" (go ahead and laugh).
4. Hallmark Sales Associate and Bridal Coordinator
5. 11th Grade English teacher! My dream job! And I work with the BEST kids and the BEST staff!


And I am tagging anyone who reads this!

Favorite Things Friday (on Saturday)

This post is a little late, but we didn't get in last night until midnight, and needless to say, I didn't feel like writing at that hour. So here is the first favorite things post:

Favorite Thing #1: My sweet nieces, Lucy and Lauren, as well as my new niece Caroline, who will be here in July. I am so blessed by these precious little ones. We do not get up there to see them nearly as much as we should, but I think of them and their smiles every day. Lucy loves dresses, princesses, and pretty much all things girly. Lauren loves purple, Elmo, and slamming herself into things. I cannot wait for Caroline to get here so we can meet her and love her too. They are very lovely little girls. My brother and sis-in-law are wonderful parents, and they have been such a good example to Jason and I.

Favorite Thing #2: Broccoli Wokly! I discovered this at Harp's back when it opened in February, and we love it! I crave steamed broccoli, and never got to have it because we don't have a steamer. But that has all changed! I pop this whole thing in the microwave for 4 minutes (even though the bag says 3 minutes), and that's it! Most of the time we just eat it with a little butter and salt! Yum!

Favorite Thing #3: My Pampered Chef Twist 'n' Chop! I got this at a Pampered Chef party back in February, and I have discovered so many uses for it. It's meant for use with ground meats (beef, chicken, turkey), and you use it like you would a fork, only this works better. A girl at church who also bought one told me, "My taco meat has never been smaller." Besides ground meats, I have used it to shred meat in the crockpot and to shred poached chicken. I love it! I have bought several to give out as presents (so some of you don't need to rush out and buy one, because chances are that I got you one for your JUNE birthday), and everyone else loves them too.

That's all for my favorites for now. But I do have a bonus photo and story (mostly for Jenny). I made my brother-in-law Garret a cake for his birthday this past week. I really wanted it to taste and look good, but I was in a hurry when the time came to frost it. I popped the cakes out of the layering pans, and stacked them, and then frosted them. I couldn't figure out why my frosting was going so far; usually I have to scrape and spread to cover a whole cake. All that frosting made it ugly, but we were late, so we hopped into the car with the world's ugliest cake in tow. I realized halfway into town why there was so much frosting: I had forgotten to frost in-between the layers! I made him a layer cake with no frosting between the layers! I felt like such a dope, and I felt bad because it probably didn't taste very good. It certainly was ugly:
I will leave the cake decorating to Jenny from now on! And Mom, if you're laughing, remember this: at least I don't use Garlic Pam to grease the cake pans.

Lazy Tuesday

I took a sick day today, even though I am not sick at all. I have never used any of my sick days, and so I decided to take one today. I got the house cleaned, the laundry done, and then made dinner for two families at church. I feel much more rested tonight than I have in a long time, and I actually feel a little ahead of the game. I'm sure I won't feel this way by tomorrow night, but it is nice while it lasts.

I went to the foot doctor yesterday because of this weird toe thing I have had since August. I will spare everyone the details, but basically I have a very painful in-grown toe nail, and will be going back on May 22nd (last student day of school!) to have a little outpatient procedure done. I would have it done sooner, but I will have to wear flip-flops for about two weeks after he fixes it, and I can't wear flip-flops to school. I am just glad that this is getting fixed.

I had the most wonderful phone call on Sunday: our dear friends Michael and Ashley are expecting their first baby! Jason and Michael were roommates, and so were Ashley and I, and they are very very special to us. We don't see them as often as we would like, but I have a feeling that that is about to change! We are so excited for them!!!

I read several blogs (around 10 or so), and I have decided to kind of hodge-podge all of the blogs I read into the blog I now write. I will starting participating in Ten Things Tuesday next week, and Fridays will be Favorite Things Friday, where I will share some of the things I love most. I will try to post pictures of stuff at least once a week. That's about all the structure I can take though, so everything else will be pretty random.

In keeping with the random theme, here is a random list I made today:

Important Movies that everyone should see:

1. Dead Poets Society
2. Crash
3. Mean Girls
4. Simon Birch
5. Freedom Writers

Landscaping

After church this morning, we spent the day in the yard. I started while Jason was out on his bike, and then he finished when he got home. We planted six hydrangea in the backyard, and a whole bunch of different stuff out front: two rose bushes, an azalea, pansies, geranium, daisies, poppies, irises, and some herbs. Needless to say, we are exhausted, but we are pleased with our work. I think we will be even more pleased when the seeds start to bud, because right now it looks a little sparse. Pictures are below!

I had a few helpers along the way...

No, this isn't just a bed of dirt. There are hydrangea buds in there!

By popular demand...

Welcome to our new blog! I think this will be a great way to keep in touch with family near and far... although the pressure of keeping this thing up-to-date may overwhelm me at times! Okay, onto the obligatory 10 things about each family member:

Jason
1. He works at Harding as a Postal Logistics Clerk (fancy!), and he also drives a bus for Searcy Schools.
2. He loves to bike~ mountain biking or road biking!
3. His knowledge of history, politics, and the Bible (along with lots of other things!) is amazing~ and he is so good at simplifying everything so that I can make sense of it.
4. He got his favorite pair of shoes (Doc Martens) at a garage sale for $.50 cents!
5. He spoils me terribly. One day I will write a post about the many ways he takes care of me.
6. He loves Ebay and has even got me into it!
7. He has a severe case of sweet tooth.
8. He teaches the 6th grade Sunday school class at church and does a great job! The kids love him!
9. We are waiting for God to guide him to where is needed most as a teacher, and when that happens, I know he will be one of the most effective and influential teachers ever. He is so talented.
10. He has the biggest heart of anybody I have ever met, and his kindness is always an inspiration to me.


Trisha
1. I teach 10th and 11th grade English at Searcy High School. I adore my job and all 116 of my kids! I am also the Beta club sponsor at SHS.
2. I love my Zumba class~ spending an hour dancing is my ideal form of exercise.
3. I love to read and write~ I just wish I had more time to indulge in those activities.
4. I love to cook~ I talk to the mirror in my kitchen like I am on the Rachael Ray show.
5. I love all kinds of music~ there is no consistency whatsoever in what I listen to.
6. I may be slightly too dependent on my cell phone.
7. I prefer the internet to TV.
8. I am obsessed with Friends (the TV show). Almost every situation has an appropriate Friends quote.
9. My vices: magazines, shampoo, bubble baths, and jewelry.
10. I have an unhealthy coffee addiction. Some have even called me a coffee snob...


Bailey
1. I am 2 years old.
2. I am a yellow lab.
3. I weigh 60 pounds, but I think I am a lap dog.
4. I love my ball. LOVE it.
5. I snore at night, and my daddy throws pennies at me until I stop.
6. I think I am a human.
7. I love carrots.
8. I love soap.
9. I wish we had a pool so I could swim all the time!
10. I love it when my whole "pack" is home at the same time!