Do You Dream?

Ok, so it is currently 7:36 in the A.M. and I am wide awake, despite the fact that I have absolutely nothing pressing to do this early in the morning. Why you ask?!...I just woke up from a horrible nightmare and CAN NOT go back to sleep! I have been having the craziest dreams the past couple of nights. So I decided to do a little research on dreams this morning. Because I mean really, you have to admit, dreams are WEIRD! So here are some cool facts to start off your day:

• 70% of females and 65% of males report reoccurring dreams.
• 12% of people only dream in black in white.
• The most common emotion experienced in dreams is anxiety.
• Back in the Roman Era, striking and significant dreams were submitted to the Senate for analysis and interpretation.
• If you are snoring, then you cannot be dreaming.
• You are more likely to remember your dreams if you are awaken in the middle of REM sleep.

Famous Dreamers:

• The song "Yesterday" by the Beatles, came to Paul McCartney in a dream.
• The Bible mentions dreams 121 times. The most famous is Jacob's ladder.
• Writer Robert Louis Stevenson got the idea for "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" from a dream he had had.
• Writer Mark Twain dreamed about his younger brother Henry's death. Less than two weeks later, his brother was critically injured in a a boat explosion.

So do any of you have a partially weird dream story?! Not too many people that I talk to remember their dreams, and I usually don't either. But I have always thought that dreams were really interesting!

I think I need to pick me up one of these babies:

Anyone partically skilled in the area of dream catcher making? If so, feel free to send me one :). haha

Anyways, enough of the weird stuff. Onto my food update. I have not been feeling too well. (Probably from being back in the schools with the kiddos) So my craving have been CRRRRAZZYY! Yesterday for lunch all I wanted was fruit, any kind and lots of it. haha. I went to the grocery store and stocked up on apples, bananas, oranges, grapes, blueberries, and pears. wow. I think I'm good for a while. Then for dinner all I wanted was veggies. I made up this HUGE-O salad:

• Spinach and Romaine Lettuce
• Cucumber
• Grape Tomatoes
• Onion
• Green Pepper
• Broccoli
• Cauliflower
• Celery
• Chickpeas

It def. hit the spot with the veggie cravings, I also had some toast with laughing cow cheeezzzee on the side. After dinner Britt and I went to hang out with some people at a local bar. Nothing too crazy, I think I was home by 1230. hehe. Here is the infamous "us getting ready in the cramped bathroom" picture.

haha notice how we have to store things in the sink because there is a very uneven ratio of makeup to counter space! Also, notice how totally into the feather thing I have been lately. It is becoming a serious theme for me. I dont know if that is good or bad. Its stylish, right?!

Ok, this post is so totally random and you can tell I have gotten up WAY to early. I'm gonna eat this bowl of oats that I just fixed up:

This mornings mixin's included a WIDE variety of just about anything I could think of to throw in:

• 1/2 cup oats
• 1/2 banana
• Handfull of Blueberries
• Strawberry Preserves
• A few Raisins
• tbsp. Maple Syrup (soo good in oats!)
  

After I eat Im headed over to get finger printed, because for some reason they want to make sure I'm not some sort of criminal trying to substitute teacher little kids! Then I'm thinking about being spontaneous and heading over to Asheville today for some window shopping downtown. I have the whole day off, why not?!

Also, the fabulous Michelle from Lucky Taste Buds is having a Barney Butter Giveaway...so head on over there and ch-ch-ch-check it out!

Hope everyone is having a great weekend so far and also having pleasant dreams ;) Lots of Love <3 Ems.

Subbing It Up

So, I took everyone's words of encouragement today and "sucked it up" and did it. Thats right, I braved the battle field known by many as MIDDLE SCHOOL! I was soooo nervous, not to mention exhausted (I had to be there at 700!). But it turned out to be ok. Everything was all laid out for me, and most of the children were actually pretty helpful. There were a couple of times I saw whispering and secretly feared they were planning some evil plot against me. But I made it home safe and sound. Glad thats over with, and now im $60 richer! woo hoo!

I had such high hopes for last nights dinner, but I was let down. I stocked up on a TON of veggie burgers because they were on sale, so I decided to make one for dinner on the george foreman grill. First off, there are no instructions for grilling these things, only baking them in the oven. So I had NO idea how long to leave it on the grill. I just sort of sight-checked it every few minutes and when it looked done I took it off. Unfortunately, I think I cooked it a little too long because it was really tough! Also, I warmed the bun in the microwave, but I think I did that for too long too because the bun shrunk to about half its original size and got really tough as well. It was bearable, but not as delicious as I had initially hoped.

I dressed it up with all the fixin's. Tomato slices, onion, spinach, mustard, and ketchup. Also, of course, you cant have a burger without a pickle on the side. And some "apple fries" :)

For breakfast this morning I fixed some oats with the usual mix-ins.

• 1/2 cup oats
• 1/2 cup water
• splash of vanilla soy milk
• 1/2 banana
• handful of blueberries
• LOADS of cinnamon

I ate this up quickly and headed on to school. I knew that I wouldnt get to eat lunch until I got home around 3, so I brought me some Honey Twist Pretzels to snack on throughout the day. When I got home I fixed up a lunch worthy of a middle schooler. PB and J with an apple on the side. Am I a teacher or what?!

Grilled Peanut Butter and Jelly with:

• 2 Slices Whole Wheat Bread
• 2 tbsp. Might Maple Peanut Butter
• Other Half of the Banana from Breakfast
• Blackberry Preserves
  
• A few Raisins
• Small Apple
• Remainder of Honey Twist Pretzels

Now, Im off to tan quickly before heading to my second job at the mizzalll (thats the mall he he). There is this teeth whitening place that just opened up in the mall and they put one tanning bed in it in the very back and do not charge mall employees to lay! I know its horrible for you, but Im pasty and its free, and soon enough I will be out in the real sun, so its not for long.

Hope everyone is having a wonderful day! And remember friends, TOMORROW IS FRIDAY!! :) What are your plans for the weekend?!

Lots of Love <3 Ems.

To Sub or Not to Sub

Ohhhh no, I am totally freaking out because I have my first "subbing" assignment tomorrow morning and I can not decide if I really wanna do it or not. It supposed to be for a 8th grade English class, but I am SO not used to teaching older kids, and you guys KNOW how middle schoolers are, especially with substitute teachers. I just dont know if I really want to put myself in that position or not! I just can't decide!! What do you think?!

Anyway onto the EATS! Lunch was a grilled sammie with a granny smith apple on the side:

Close-up/Break-down:

• 2 Slices Wheat Bread
• Red Pepper Hummus
• Salsa
• Spinach
• Onions
• Spicey Mustard
• Deli Turkey

Dinner:

• Kashi Moroccan Curry Pilaf
• Sauteed Mushrooms and Spinach

Sorry for the quick/boring post, but thats all I've got for today. My mind is flooded with this subbing thing I've got going on. Any advice/tips/words of encouragement would be greatly appreciated!

Happy Hump Day! Lots of Love, <3 Ems.

Awards, Assignments, and Another Word That Starts with An "A"...

Good Morning Friends!

For some reason I was reminded of how we would start the day each morning when I was student teaching in a 1st grade classroom. We would always say good morning to our friends by standing in a circle and tossing a ball to each other. The person throwing the ball would say "good morning" to the person that they were throwing it to and the person catching the ball would say "good morning" back and then choose another friend to throw the ball to. This would continue until every one of the students had been greeted in the morning. I always thought that this was so cool, because my mentor teacher told me that she believed that it was so important for every child to know that they are welcome in the class and that they have friends there with them. All of the kids LOVED it. I think that this can be carried over into the adult world too, dont you think?! I mean who doesnt love it when a friend looks them in the eye with a big smile and says "good morning!" I know it always puts a smile on my face. So, Im bringing out the teacher in me and giving all of you an assignment. Brighten someones day RIGHT NOW and look over, send a text, give a call to a friend and "good morning"! I promise you will make a difference in their day.

My day was brightened this morning because Miss Mica gave me MY FIRST BLOG AWARD! Here is a visual representation of what I looked like when I saw that she had presented me with this lovely award.

Ok, but in all seriousness, thank you Mica, I think that you have one of the most creative and awesome blogs out there too. And I wanna just give it right back to ya. But someone beat me to the punch. So I'll pick five others...if I can!

There are so many creative blogs out there, I tag these lovely blogger girlies:

• Jenn: because she always has the most creative titles for her posts. :)
• Katie: because she is just so witty and funny.
• Leslie: because she never fails to entertain with her pictures and posts.
• Erica: because she always comes up with the most creative recipes for din din.
• Megan: because she is a fellow teach, with style and good food...and you cant go wrong with that!

Now for food! Lunch yesterday:

Peanut Butter and Jelly Sammie with a Granny Smith

Time for a close-up/break-down:

• Wheat Bread
• Mighty Maple Peanut Butter
• 1/2 Nanner
• Blackberry Preserves
• a few randomly placed raisins

Breakfast this morning:

Weird. I NEVER eat cereal for breakfast, but I had the BIGGEST craving for it this morning.

Close-up/Break-down:

• 1 cup All-Bran Flakes
• Other half of the Nanner from my sammie yesterday
• Handful of Blueberries
• 1/2 cup Vanilla Soy Milk

Ok, I thought I would share this with you guys as well to see what your opinions are. As i was uploading my pictures I remembered this picture that my manager at work had me take last night of the cake that she ordered from a place we will not mention, to protect the innocent.

Horrible, right?! Keep in mind that this was a TINY cake and she paid about $30 for it. Its supposed to say "Happy Late 25th Birthday, Love Ya Daddy" IN ALL CAPS. hmmm...looks like it says "Happy Tote 25th, Lare Ya Daddy". haha. We got a pretty big kick out of it.

Anyways, time to get my butt of the computer and start my day. Its a pretty one! Dont forget your assignment and dont forget to have a WONDERFUL DAY! Lots of Love, Ems <33

Nashville Weekend Recap (LOTS of pictures!)

Oh my goodness I have MISSED you guys sooo much! I felt so out of the loop when I got home last night and tried to "quickly" scan through some of the updates. It just didnt work out because I was sooo behind! I even found out that I had won Angela's contest for an "oh she glows" fit gear hoodie! My first winning!! So that was a nice surprise to come home to :)

Anyway, on to the weekend. We took a TON of pictures, I'm not gonna put them all up here, because I think it might be overkill. But I definitely want to show you girls some highlights.

As I said in an earlier post we were going to Nashville for a going away party for my cousin Matt, who is leaving for Korea this morning to start teaching English over there for a year. I know he is super nervous about so everyone keep him in your thoughts and prayers (especially for his 14 hour flight!!) This is an awesome opportunity for him and I know he will do amazing things over there.

We started out the Nashville weekend on Friday afternoon. I picked up my friend Brittani and we hit the road! We stopped through Knoxville to pick up my cousin's girlfriend who goes to college at the University of Tennessee (that is also where my cousin graduated from). After we picked her up it was full speed ahead to NashVegas baby! My cousin had gotten a hotel right in the middle of downtown so that we could be within walking distance of all the bars and restaurants and it was so nice! We got there, got ready, and went out to eat. First things first, right?!

This is where it gets interesting. The guy at the front desk of the hotel suggested that we try a nice sushi restaurant that was on one of the main streets of downtown Nashville. We decided to give a shot. So we walk in and sit down. The waiter brings us out some water and we ask to see the menu. Well, he goes back to the KITCHEN to grab our menus. I take the menu, open it up....and THERE IS A LIVE ROACH CRAWLING INSIDE!!!! We were all up and out of that place in record time. I mean, I'm sorry, but that is just a deal breaker right there. We ran into the closest restaurant we could find and that was the Hard Rock Cafe. It wasnt bad, this place is of course more atmosphere than anything.

Ok, after we ate we hit the town. We went to one bar called Cadillac ranch. It had a real Cadillac hanging from beams in the ceiling and a mechanical bull to ride.

This was the view from the upstairs, looking down onto the bar. It was sooo cool looking.

In typical Nashville form, my friend Brandon decided to ride the bull. I think he lasted about .2 seconds. haha.

After we left there we walked up the street to a place called Paradise Park. This place was sooo cool, because it was a bar inside, but it was decorated to look like you were outside in a trailer park. I wish we had fun places like that were I live!

Britt and my cousin Matt

Matt and his friend Alex

Britt, Keely (Matt's Girlfriend), and I

Keely, Brandon, and I

Matt's friend Brandon apparently feel in love with me at first site and kept trying to tell me how pretty I was all night. Matt captured one of these moments on film. haha

The next day, the girls got up and went shopping (of course) While the fellas slept the whole day! When we got back we all got ready for Round #2.

My cousin and I. I am wearing a KILLER leather jacket that I bought at Forever 21 on our shopping trip earlier that day. I think I'm in love with it.

All of Matt's friends at his going away dinner.

Sunday morning we had a more formal get together after church where friends and family came to Matt's house to wish him well and say goodbye.

Matt and his girlfriend Keely. I felt so bad for her, having to say goodbye to her boyfriend for a whole year!

My aunt served some traditional Korean snack food at the get together. All of it was kinda strange! Even the "dessert" type things were hot and spicy! I did enjoy these "seaweed chips" that were just dried seaweed and tasted similar to crunchy sushi. haha.

The dessert spread. Ginger cookies (these tasted just like the ginger that you get with sushi, with a hint of sweetness. Kinda strange.), Rice cookies, and some other type of cookie that was almost the consistency of wax.

Alex chowing down on some edamame and Britt getting it with some rice cakes. haha

Matt and Alex.

After the get together we hit the road to go back home. It was really sad saying goodbye to my cousin, but he will be able to keep in touch through e-mail and such, so that goods. I look forward to hearing all the stories and seeing all the pictures. It was a fun and exhausting weekend. And I'm pretty sure that I fell in love with Nashville, it is just an amazing city with so much to see and do!

Well, I am glad to be back to my lovely blogger ladies. Like I said, I missed you guys tons and I am going to try to get caught up on everyones lives again! Please get me back into the loop!!

Hope everyone is having a wonderful Monday. Lots of Love <3 Ems.

TA-TA For Now...

Ok girlies, this is goodbye for the weekend! I know I know, I will miss you terribly too. But please try to get along OK without me! haha.

I am going to Nashville, TN with Britt to see my cousin. He is leaving for Korea on Monday to teach English there for a year. He is having a huge going away party with all his friends in downtown Nashville, so it should be a good time for sure! You KNOW I will have plenty of pics to share when I get back! So I will see you lovely ladies on Sunday.

Hope everyone has a GREAT weekend! Lots of Love, Ems <3

All You Need Is Love...

First of all let me just give you a big "THANK YOU" to all of your comments, e-mails, and texts...WOW! You guys are amazing and I love love love you! How great is it to have such a wonderful group of girls in this "blogging community". You ALL had me smiling all day!

Yesterday I experimented with a sandwich combo. I started out thinking I just wanted to make a grilled cheese with tomatoes, but then I figured out that I was CRAVING more veggies. And I am a firm believer that you should always listen to your cravings, because its probably what your body needs. So I made up this little concoction of a sammie :)

• Two slices of Whole Wheat Bread
• Cucumber Slices
• Ooey Gooey Melty Yummy Cheeeeese
• Four Slices of Tomato
• LOADS of Spinach
• Spicy Mustard
• Onions

Lets just say that this combo was GOOD and definitely satisfied my craving for lots of veggies. Here is a close-up for ya as well:

I also had a pear on the side, you can kinda see it in the background there.

After lunch I ran on over to the gym for just a quick workout that included:

• 35 minutes on the eliptical
• 20 minutes on the arc trainer

I tried what some of you have suggested and did one of the "interval training" on the arc thing-y. I think I looked ABSOLUTELY RIDIC!! First of all, I had NO idea how to work this thing, so I was just pressing buttons and I could not figure out how to up the workout, so it kept yelling at me SLOW DOWN when my heart rate got over 120. hahaha what?! 120?! What kind of workout is that. But I ended up pressing things and ignoring the warnings and managed to get in a nice and schweaty workout.

When I got home I showered and got ready for the wednesday night ritual of playing pool at this local bar. On wednesday nights ladies can play for free, so Britt and I have been going with some other friends and brushing up on our pool shark skilllzz. I guess you could say we are pretty close to going pro by now. :) Here are some photos from said night.

We usually catch up on our blogs and have a glass of wine to start out the night. Oh the life of internet nerds. haha

Me and the Bestie, Britt.

She was having boy problems as well. This is a facial representation of what guys will do to ya! haha

and here is a facial representation of what a night out with friends that love you will do to ya!

Pool Shark #1

Pool Shark #2

My friends Grant, he is really not as creepy as he looks. haha

By the end of the night we were all smiles, and not worried about any stupid guy problems...cause who needs that?!

Ok gals, im off the dun dun dun TARGET with the mother. Im going to try my hardest not to go completely broke from shopping there. But its really hard...right?! I'll update you later on whether or not I picked up anything "blog worthy". Until then....

I hope everyone is having a wonderful Thursday. Lots of Love <3 Ems.

Love and Support

Ok, this is not going to be a food post (I'll probably get one of those in a little later) I just feel like I had to get some of this out. The past couple of days have really been a big test for me, I wont go into too much detail but it has to do with boy issues and such. Im sure you girls know how that is. Anyway usually this would be the time that I would be beating myself up about it and turning to ED to help deal. This morning my friend and I were texting about it and what I said actually even shocked me, and I'm sure it shocked my friend. The conversation went a little something like this:

Friend: "Well, just keep that pretty little head up"

Me: "Not a problem. If things are going to be like this, then it just wasn't meant to be, and I'm totally fine with that."

Friend: "That's a mighty nice prospective to have!"

Me: "It's the only one to have!"

At that moment the beautiful Megan's words came to mind "If your not happy, then what else can you be?" I love this because it is so true. Why waste your life worrying about the things that you can not control? Everything is in God's hands and what is best for your life at that moment will happen, I really do feel confident about that. Things that are meant to work out, will work out. And the things that are not meant to be, won't. Sometimes it may not feel like the best thing at that moment, but I can honestly look back and say that all of the hard times I have had have brought me to the place that I am now. And I like that place, and I can only think that everything that happens from here on out will bring me to an even better place.

With that said, I also came to the realization of what a big help having this blog is. I don't know if I would have been able to have such a positive attitude about what is going on, if it had not been for all of you girls. Every day I am inspired by something that I read on one of your blogs, and I see the strength and positivity that each one of you possess. I feel so blessed that this has come into my life, and it is just one more example of how everything that pops into your life is there for a reason. I have gotten very close to some of you, and feel like friendships are being developed everyday. Even though I have not met any of you in person, I feel like I have become close friends with all of girls by sharing things from each of our days with eachother. So thanks to all of you for being such WONDERFUL, STRONG, and INSPIRING girls. I love all of you and just wanted you guys to know that!

Im gonna stay positive, because what else can I do? Its my life and being negative about it is no way to go through life. Because what doesn't kill you only makes you stronger...right?! and I feel like a lot of us are living proof of that!

So for keeping me sane and positive through the hardest times I love you all and send you lots of love and kisses! :)

"People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. I don't believe in circumstances. The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and if they can't find them, make them."

- George Bernard Shaw

Food Porn ALERT!

Oh my goodness...just look at this deliciousness in the form of a pb & j!

Honey Wheat Bread with Chocolate chip cookie dough peanut butter, strawberry preserves, and half a banana. grilled and warm and gooey! :) can you handle another shot?!

BAM!

Time for a close-up

And all together with some cherry yogurt and blueberries on the side. On my wonderful monster plate that I got from my secret cupid! :)

Okay backtracking to breakfast, I had my usual two pieces of whole wheat bread with blackberry and apricot preserves, and 1/2 cup of fat free cottage cheese with cinnamon.

After breakfast I also had a quick gym sess' that included:

• 35 minutes on the eliptical
• 1 mile run (for a cooldown)
• leg weights

Oh yeah and KATIE, you were right. That thing is an arc trainer and looks a little like this:

Has anyone ever used this?! According to the stats on the machine (which seem to be accurate because you have to enter in your weight, age, and sex, and it also has a HRM) I burn WAY more calories on this than I do on the elipitcal, but I am baffled as to why, it doesnt really feel like that much more of a workout. Does anyone know anything about this?!

Ok dears, Im going to hop in the shower and prepare to go to work for the night.

Hope everyone is having a great tuesday! <3 Ems

Happy 277th Birthday Georgie!

Happy Presidents Day Loves! What a weird holiday huh? Just like Sophie said, if we are going to make George Washington's birthday a national holiday why not make all of the president's birthday holiday. Then we would get TONS of days off! :)

I have been in desperate need of groceries, so today was a grocery day. I have had an abundance of apples, but no bananas so I have been replacing what I normally use bananas for, with apples. So this morning I used apples in my oats :)

• 1/2 cup oats
• 1/2 apple
• handful of blueberries
• strawberry preserves
• LOADS of cinnamon

After breakfast I hit up the grocery store. I stocked up on all my fruits and veggies and some other essential items. I also picked up some Tofu, because I have been inspired to make tofu sandwiches by a lot of you lovely bloggers. I just hope I can live up to your expertise.

I dropped off the groceries and then hit up the gym! I got in a pretty good workout and was sweatin' it up in there. It just doesnt feel like a workout to me unless your pouring the sweat! My workout was quick and simple:

• 35 minutes on the eliptical - 300 calories burned
• 25 minutes on the "other-thing-that-looked-kinda-like-an- eliptical-but-I-am-never-quite-sure-what-its-called" - 250 calories burned.

I headed home from the gym and fixed up a quick wrap.

Now I am getting ready to run some candy to the girls at work that my mom sent me to give to them. The girls at work love my mom, because she always sends them "goodies". One of my friends from work actually called to ask me if my mom had sent them any goodies for valentines! haha.

Hope everyone is having a wonderful start to the week. Whether you got the holiday off or not! Lots of Love <3 Ems.

V-Day Recovery

hey hey pretty ladies! Hope everyone is having a relaxing Sunday and recovering well from the valentines weekend. Last night I spent V-day with my friend Tina. She was my date to the movies. We saw The Uninvited, which was surprisingly really good. I didn't think it would be scary at all, but it was and it had a really good twist at the end ;) After the movie we hung out at my house and drank some wine and talked about guys. haha. Pretty good valentines, I guess. Here is a pic of Tina and I driving to the movies.

This morning I was definitely feeling the wine that we drank last night and unfortunately I had to get up and work open to close today!! I packed up my lunch to go. It was a repeat of yesterday's "apple, peanut butter, and jelly sandwich." Because it was just THAT good. I mean look at this:

Honey Wheat Bread, Mighty Maple Peanut Butter, Blackberry Preserves, and half an apple thinly sliced. And allll toasted up!

Archer Farms Blueberry Pomegranate yogurt topped with blueberries.

All packed up and ready to go to work :)

After work I came home and made up some din-din.

Brown rice with Chinese veggies stir fried with soy sauce and served up with a side of steamed broccoli.

Salad with cucumbers, onions, tomato, celery, and green peppers with a light vinaigrette dressing.

Now I'm going to take a nice bubble bath and get ready for some sleep. I need it!

Goodnight dears! <3 Ems.

P.S. Am I the only one that was not aware that it was a holiday tomorrow?! What the heck is presidents day anyways?! haha. Does everyone have the day off?