Livin' the Life...

Of an Elementary School Art Teacher, that is. In bed by 10, up by 530, packed lunches, rowdy kids, hands blue from markers...and funny thing is...I'm kinda liking it. Alot.

Not to say it hasn't been rough, but a good kind of rough...ya know? The kind of days where you come home feeling like you have been hit by a train, but somehow in a good way. A way that you know you put your time in today and you DID something worth doing. Because easy things aren't even worth it, its the hard things that make you stronger and make you who you are.

I have to admit, I was getting discouraged with the job search and losing touch with the part of me that really wanted to be a teacher in the first place. I was starting to question if it was even something that I wanted to do with my life. But now I see that I was only questioning it because it was hard, not because it wasn't what I wanted. Now I want it more than ever. I LOVE being a teacher, I LOVE the kids, I LOVE the school. It fits. Its me. I can't wait to have my own classroom.

So I know that I have missed a couple of days of blogging, but that is because I have been dead tired for the past three days. With being sick and still working every morning, I pretty much come home and crash! BUT I did take pictures of what its like to eat breakfast and lunch as a "teach".

Breakfast #1:

Banana Pancake Oats...eaten atop my flannel pj's while sitting on my bed reading blogs on the laptop.

Close-Up/Break-Down:

• 1/2 Cup Oats
• 1/2 Cup of Skim Milk
• LOADS of Cinnamon
• 1/2 Banana
• Tbsp. Maple Syrup
• Kashi Flax Cereal

Lunch Day #1

Turkey Sandwich on Wheat eaten atop my desk, with my caffeine fix (gotta have it), a note that says "your the best", and a grade book to the right.

Breakfast Day #2:

Apple Cinnamon Oats eaten atop my leopard print throw. Includes:

• Chopped Apple
• 1/2 Cup Oats
• 1/2 Cup Skim Milk
• LOADS of Cinnamon
• Kashi Flax Cereal

Lunch Day #2:

Hummus and Spinach Sandwich, Pretzels, and an Apple (oh the irony)...eaten atop my desk with all kinds of good teacher-y stuff up there!!

So there you have two breakfasts and lunches in the life of a teacher. Pretty exciting right?...ummm...

Also, like I said before, me being sick gave me an excuse to relax and rest a little. And also to catch up on my cinema. I watched Twilight...which was good, but nothing GREAT. Sorry guys, I know a lot of you are big fans. Then I watched The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Let me just tell you, if you have not seen this movie...GO NOW! It was AMAZING. I seriously loved every minute of it. I laughed, I cried...it was great. There was one quote that I loved in the movie and when I was at school I looked up the exact wording because I could not get it out of my head.

I jotted it down, and when I was bored during my "planning" period I made it all pretty.

"You can be mad as hell at the way things went. You could swear, curse the fates...but when it comes to an end, you have to let it go."

This just hit so close to home for me, because I have a really hard time letting things go. Especially things that did not turn out the way that I had wanted them to. Sure I could be angry at how things turned out. But when its over its over, and keeping those angry feelings inside only make it worse and won't turn back time. When things end you just have to let them end and learn for next time. I think the practically reminds me of relationships that I have had in the past.

Now, I am off the enjoy the weekend!!!....uhhh...tomorrow, right now I'm ready for SLEEP!

Hope everyone has a fun and exciting weekend.

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.

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?

Friday Night and I Feel Alright

Happy Friday girlies! I know everyone has been looking forward to the weekend and its finally here! Tonight is kind of a chill night for me, I think my friend Tina and I are going out tomorrow night.

Today was a pretty relaxing day as well. I got in a little gym time. I only did 35 minutes on the eliptical today because I just wasnt really feeling it for some reason...I was nervous because I have been waiting to hear back from my interview...but a little exercise is better than none at all, right?! After the gym I went into the grocery store to pick up a "few" things, and ended up with a little more than I had anticipated! They had so many veggies on sale!

How could I possibly pass up these tri-colored baby cauliflowers...how cute are they?!

These broccoli sprouts were on sale too, the PERFECT thing for my sammies, for sure :).

And of course I had to get stocked up on my fruit: apple (cameo and crispini, bananas, oranges, and grapefruit).

Back when I was student teaching and eating lunch in the teacher's lounge, I always saw this one teacher bringing these salads for lunch and thought they looked kinda good and convenient.

Tuscan Pesto Chicken Fresh Express Salad

I decided to pick on up (since it was on sale too) for something quick for lunch...since I was STARVING. Upon further investigation of the salad when I got home, i realized that it kinda sucked. All it had was romaine lettuce, that was IT for the veggies, and then some grilled chicken, some gross looking cheese, croutons, and dressing. I definitely had to "health" it up a litte. I quickly tossed the croutons and the cheese and just used the lettuce, chicken, and dressing...then I added in some spinach leaves, tomatoes, and cucumber...it ended up looking something like this:

The dressing and the chicken were actually pretty good...and once I added the extra veggies the salad was pretty decent.

I worked a little after that and then came home and the roomie and I cooked up some stir-fry using this HUMONGOUS bag of stir-fry veggies she bought. That girl and buying in bulk, im telling ya. ;)

We cooked up some noodles to go with it and mixed it with soy sauce and the stir-fry mix. Here is my plate:

and a small glass of wine...hey its Friday isnt it?!

And dessert...

Fudgy peanut butter chocolate vitatop, with cool whip on top. YUMMM!!!

Oh yeah, something VERY exciting happened today. I walked out of my door to go to work and there was THIS laying on my door step.

What is you ask?!.....A package from Mike!! In case you didnt know Mike is my boyfriend, and he currently lives on the complete opposite side of U.S.! It was a very good surprise for the day :)

Inside was a book that I told him I had been wanting to add to my collection of books for my future classroom. It is one that all of my professors recommended. He knew that I had wanted it because I showed it to him one day, but decided to wait until later to buy it. AND he got it for me!

Well, that is about all of the excitement for the night, I think. Ill probably call it a night soon.

But first I have a question for you gals...those of you who eat Tofu regularly, I really wanna start making it too...like in sandwiches and such. How do you cook it and season it?! Please give me ideas!!!

Thanks and tons of love to everyone!! Goodnight! <3

EDIT!!!!

ok i had to do it, if you think his gift was cute...just look at this picture!

I miss him!