8th Grade Day/Dance

Let me just say - the 8th grade dance (last night) and field day (today) sure are a labor of love. Oh, and my homeroom class is AWESOME. Can we say undefeated in all field day games?!


















My kids all wanted me to post the pictures here - they've recently found out about my blog and wanted me to give them a shout out. So here it goes - WE WILL, WE WILL, ROCK YOU HARD, SHAKE YOU UP!

And I'm going to be MIA for the next few days. The girls and I are headed off to Gatlinburg, and will return late Monday night.

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My Girlies

I promise one of these days I'll sit down and take some good pictures and edit them - but for right now, these are straight out of the camera. The girls and I went to the gym yesterday (I met with a personal trainer), and then came home to play. The next week is going to be pretty action packed - so I'm not sure how often I'll be around online.

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Paper to Pearls Giveaway

Head on over to my Reviews & Giveaways Blog for a chance to win a $40 Paper to Pearls Gift Certificate - and learn a little more about a company that is trying to change the world, one woman at a time.

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Weird Night

After a great workout, and watching some of my favorite Monday night shows, I finally settled into bed for a good night's sleep.

The girls had other plans. Natalie woke up once crying, around midnight. She woke up again around 1:00 laughing and singing. I'm thinking she must have first had a nightmare, and then a funny dream.

I went back to my bed and snuggled under the covers. I remember I was having a great dream, and then all of a sudden saw flames. It freaked me out so much that I woke up - and smelled smoke - like the kind you smell after blowing out birthday candles.

Of course I immediately started to freak out, but calmed myself down quickly. I realized that there wasn't any smoke in my room, so I hurriedly threw on some clothes and put on my glasses. I went from room to room making sure they were all ok. I had parked my car in the garage for the first time in a long time, and figured that a fire might have started in there. I felt the garage door, and it was cool. So I kept sniffing around outlets to see where the smell was coming from - and found my culprit.

One of my Tupperware lids fell of the top shelf of the dishwasher and down into the bottom, where the metal coils are. It had melted to the coil, and that was causing the smell. Of course even after I retrieved the melted plastic, I couldn't fall back asleep. I have always been terrified of fires - even as a little girls I had my "Going to Grandma's" suitcase packed with my special stuff in case our house ever caught on fire and I had to grab it in a hurry. And then, in high school, our house actually did burn down while we were visiting my Grandma in Ashville (oh the irony of the suitcase).

So today, I'm exhausted. My students are watching Glory (school edited, of course), and I'm working on failure, exemption and award spreadsheets. I just hope I can last for my personal trainer session at 4:30 this prevening, and then Glee tonight.

And would you do a lil favor and click below to vote :)

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McFatty Monday

Guess who is down almost 6 pounds in two weeks? Um, this bitch right here! What happened? I finally found and joined a gym that I like. I had tried out ZX Fitness a few weeks ago, but sweltered in their lack of air conditioning gym (and hear they got their water shut off for a few days - can we say shady?). I finally joined Pivotal which is about a mile from my house, $29 a month with free child care. Plus, the girls really liked their child care workers - and I liked that they had babies, toddlers and bigger kids separated from each other. So far I've worked out 5 times in the past week and a half. I'm also eating Special K for breakfast and have cut out frozen meals for lunch. The personal trainer I met with says that the sodium in those meals is what has prohibited me from losing weight these past few months. So now for lunch, I pack a chicken, turkey or ham wrap, some carrots or cucumbers, and a side of light ranch dressing - along with either applesauce or yogurt. For dinner I pretty much eat what I normally would - and yes, sometimes that does include pizza rolls and a pop.

As far as working out goes, I've just been doing 20 minutes of cardio, and playing around on some of the machines to get a good feel of what to do. I meet with a personal trainer tomorrow to go over a good fitness plan to help me reach my goal weight of 120. And right now I only have 14 more pounds to go :)

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Show Us Your Life - Hometown

Ok, so technically Greenville isn't my hometown. I was born in Indianapolis, IN, and have also lived in Michigan and Georgia. But I've lived in Greenville since I started 6th grade - and will most likely never leave (unless I move to Charleston!). So I do consider it my hometown.



The city of Greenville South Carolina is located in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, about 100 miles north of Columbia, the state capital. Greenville is a moderately sized city and the site of a number of Greenville SC attractions for history lovers and outdoor enthusiasts.

Greenville originally developed as a trading post in the early 18th century. Its central location and proximity to the Appalachian Mountains made it a prime location for trade and mail delivery. Its proximity to the Appalachians also made it an attractive resort town for plantation owners, who came to Greenville often for relaxing vacations and outdoor getaways. After the Civil War, Greenville took the lead in the state as the major producer of textiles, which would prove to be a major economical boost to the state during the reconstruction period. Today, Greenville is still a great place to go in search of resorts and relaxation.

Here are some other interesting facts:
* #1 North American City of the Future
* Highest Per Capita Foreign Investment in the Nation
* Top 5 Cities to Weather the Economic Downturn (Forbes 2008)
* #4 Best Place to Live in the Nation (Relocate-America.com)
* #2 Top Structure for Business Among Mid-Sized US Cities
* #3 Most Business Friendly City, Best Human Resources
* #2 Real Estate Market for Expanding Companies (Expansion Magazine)
* Least Expensive Mid-Sized Location for Business (KPMG)

You can also buy a house like this for around $200,000. Can't beat that!

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Flashback Friday

May 2008

May 2009


Where has time gone?

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The End Is Near

The end is near, and thank God for that! I have 6 whole days, 3 half days, and 1 teacher work day before my summer vacation starts. And I think most of the students and teachers have been mentally checked out since Spring Break.

In these next few days, we have to cram in awards night, dodgeball tournament, the 8th grade dance, 8th grade field day, exam reviews, final exams - and all while keeping control on 130 wild kids. Wish me luck.

On the bright side, I did confiscate a 4 page list of awesome baby names - maybe some of y'all will find the PERFECT one for your family. Such names include Liz Bien, Mike Rotch, Dill Doe and Jenny Tayla. Oh, and while you are at it, would you care to join the Pen 15 club? All the cool kids are.

And to leave you with a little something - here is a picture from the 8th grade dance 4 years ago. These kids are all graduating high school, and heading off to college. Man, I feel old!

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Vacation

Next weekend, the girls and I will be heading out for a 4 day vacation to Gatlinburg, TN with my mom & Grandma! I love Gatlinburg because it is so campy, but they also have really, really awesome outlet shopping. We're talking Outlet Mecca here, folks.

We'll be staying in a 2 bedroom condo with a living room and kitchen, right off the main drag. I'm so terribly excited, and hope the girls have a great time as well.

Do y'all have any good traveling tips?

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Wish List Wednesday

I want a wardrobe full of comfy sun dresses. It is entirely too hot to wear jeans here during the summer, and I abhor wearing shorts.

And with the cute dresses, I need new accessories!

Want to play along? What things do you want? Write a post, grab the Wish List Wednesday button here:

<a href="http://nbjenni.blogspot.com"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 160px; height: 200px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_2Ec0mzBoHfw/SjXPjsFEkJI/AAAAAAAACqU/4qWi34U9XuI/s200/wish+list+wednesday.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5347408344607133842" /></a>


Then, sign the all new Thumbnail Linky and let me know you've played along!

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Kindle

If I could marry an inanimate object, I swear it would be my Kindle. I've owned it for a little over a week now, and have already read about 1,800 pages. And have only charged the battery once!


It's incredibly slim - at 0.36" thick. And it only weighs 10.2 ounces. It's tiny. Look how big it is compared to the typical book I read!

There are a few really cool features that I like. First, if I'm reading and don't know what a word is, I just move the cursor to that word, and the built in dictionary gives me a definition at the bottom of the screen. It makes me feel super smart. I also like that I can have my books read to me, and either use the on board speakers, or headphones. Pretty much any classic book prior to 1923 is free to download, and finally, I can shop for a book at any time. If I'm sitting on the beach and decide I want to read Harry Potter (fat chance!), I just shop on the wireless store and download a book in under a minute.

I also am able to increase the text size, so I can have it sitting on the elliptical and read while I work out.


I know a lot of people debate getting either the Kindle or the Nook, and I've heard pros and cons of both. I'm pretty happy with my decision to get the Kindle over the Nook, since I'm able to use my Swagbucks Amazon gift cards to buy my books.

I also bought this cute pink "leather" cover from Bundle Monster on Amazon. It was only $18.99, and came with a cute Kindle sticker (haven't used it yet) and a screen protector.

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