Feeling Happy

There is something so refreshing about September. I am a  life long school-goer (as either a student for a teacher) so I always find September as reason for a fresh start and clean slate. It's something to do with getting fresh school supplies!

This September has been the best fresh start since the last few years have been hectic and stressful.


In early 2011, we had a fire in our rental home and that whole time was so confusing and overwhelming, not knowing where we were going to live and the mess that comes along with losing nearly everything.

Ryan and I were fighting a lot.

Last December, I left a job that I was comfortable at for one in a different type of setting. I went from an elementary school in an urban district to a preschool in a suburban district and immediately didn't like the new position. I just never felt like I fit in.

Last March, we bought a house and had all the stressful shenanigans that go along with paperwork, house hunting, and dealing with the mortgage stuff. Oh yeah, there was also the packing and unpacking, moving, house repairs, and the cost of all of it. Yep. It added a touch of stress to our daily lives.

home sweet home

And  for the past fours years, since living with us, the teenager (who I prefer to keep his life private from here) was sapping a lot of our energy  because of school stuff, behavior stuff, his other half of his family stuff, etc.


But now....


Well, now, I feel like my life is all coming together. Everything is working out so perfectly. I am happy.

We are making this house our home.  The house is in a great location and is perfect for my life. Doing all the house projects and decorating has been fun and now that we can take our time with them, it's much more enjoyable.  I am looking forward to sitting on our new couch, sipping our coffees, and being in front of the crackling fireplace come winter time. I probably need to start searching for a hearth now! Any suggestions?

Love this mesh hearth! 

Since starting middle school, the teenager is doing much better in school and becoming more responsible and mature. Which means, the yelling is reduced-thanks to the orange rhino challenge! Things have really calmed down and the whole dynamic in our household is so much better.

I am no longer at the job I didn't like. I was stressed all summer about finding a new job but it all worked out. I am back in an elementary school in a different urban district. The commute is amazing-fifteen minutes door to door (shortest commute I have ever had!)

But the best thing is that I loooooooooooooooove my new job. I feel so good at it there and coming from my last job, it is such a difference. I may have taken a pay cut, but my happiness is much more important. It makes a huge difference waking up in the morning and not dreading going to work. 

On top of all of that, I am exercising regularly and in a way that i love. I am a dancer at heart and that has always been my favorite way to spend my time. Since the pole room has been completed, I get to dance or play on the pole whenever I want and that feels physically and mentally rewarding. 

With all the good things, our relationship has been positively impacted, and of course that feels good.

I am really happy right now.

Question for you:
What are you happy about right now?

The Leibster Award

I haven't been blogging all that long and I am far from one of those "professional bloggers" (although, I think it is so cool that people can blog about their favorite interests and make it into a career and lifestyle that can financially support themselves).

 

Anyways, I still don't have a set "purpose" in this blog-its more of a place for me to vent, write, have a place to hold myself accountable, and potentially something for me to look back at and reminisce. I haven't really told many people about this (in fact, there are only two people who I have directly told about the blog and the name of it-and Ryan isn't included), so you can imagine my surprise when I found out I have been nominated for a blogging award!

Maria, over at The Brooklyn Fig, has nominated me for a Liebster Award. I'm not even sure what that really means, but it definitely made me giddy when I found out! Thanks Maria!!!

Maria was one of the first people to comment on my blog and after reading hers, I'm pretty sure we would be friends in "real life". I love her blog and look forward to reading about her decorating adventures and her yummy recipes! 

As a nominee, I am supposed to tell you 11 random facts about myself (dude, I had a hard enough time coming up with 100 things about myself, and now I have to come up with 11 more random things?!?!).

So here are my 11 facts:

1. I sleep on the left side of the bed for a few reasons but mainly because it is closer to the bathroom.
2. My pinky toenail on my left foot is deformed from wearing toe shoes
3. I am starting to gain a tolerance for spicy food. Very little tolerance though
4.  In college, I was in a performance that used the entire music from Pink Floyd's, The Wall. It was an entirely student run performance and I loved it
5. My next pole moves that I am working on are these two:
 

 

6. My great-grandmother, who I called Bubbie, came from Russia and spoke Yiddish. I love learning fun Yiddish phrases from my grandmother.
7. Since I graduated from college in 2005, and not counting my parents house, I have lived in 7 different rentals or other various places before we bought our house in March 2013.
8. Because of that, I am an incredible packer-(except for this last move where I just gave up). Usually, I tape on an index card on top the box with the room it should go in and what is inside. It makes it so much easier to unpack)
9. When I was a young child-like 4 years old kind of young-I used to cry at the thought of wearing jeans because I thought they hurt my legs.
10. I also didn't like to wear red and would tell my parents, "red is for crayons"
11. I was a bit feisty growing up and once told my friends parents, "I don't listen to my mother, why should I listen to you" when she asked me to do something. Yeah, not so nice of me.

I also need to answer these 11 questions from Maria:

1. How did you meet your significant other?

      One of these days, I am going to do a long post/series on "how we met" as part of my 101 in 1001 goals, but the short version is we met the first time on Christmas Eve in 2007, although we were not officially introduced. At the time, I was living in Florida for grad school and home for break. We were all at the same Chinese food restaurant with our mutual friends. I noticed him, and I'm pretty sure I didn't get a wonderful impression. 
      The next time we met and were officially introduced was St. Patrick's day, again with the same mutual friends. We were all talking as a group and I got a little feisty and into a debate/argument with his cousin/roommate that night, which prompted Ryan to become interested in me.
       Fast forward a few months later, Ryan had asked our mutual friend Leah, who at that time and still currently is dating his friend Jeff, to work out something so we could all hang out one night because he was interested in me. Next time I came home from school, we were conveniently at the same bar. I knew he was interested in me but I wasn't interested in any sort of dating or relationship with anyone. That night, he asked me for my number that night so he "could call me to ask me on a date" (his exact words) which won me over. I gave him my number, he called the next day, and we set something up for a Wednesday, April 30, 2008. I still wasn't interested but fell partial to the fact that he called it a "date". 
     Leah drove me to our date (my car was still in Florida) and on the way, I asked her to stay local so she could text me with the "something bad happened" line and then come rescue me. An hour or so into our date, I texted her to abort the mission. I knew that night that this was something serious. He offered to drive me home and as we sat in the car in the parking lot, the time changed from 11:59 to 12:00. We had our first kiss at midnight and so began our anniversary date of May 1st. 

One of our first pictures together, Summer of 2008 in Cape Cod

  
That turned out to not be such a short version. Sorry!

2. Do you feel to be a successful blogger you have to fit into a “mold”?

Hmmm, I think there are no official rules to being a successful blogger or even what defines a successful blogger. Just write when you want, what you want to, and how you want to. If someone wants to read it, great. If not, no big deal. 

3. Do you vary your meals or eat the same things everyday?

My breakfast and lunch are typically the same. Breakfast is oatmeal, cran-grape and coffee. Lunch is typically a salad of spinach, cranberry cheese, peanuts, turkey, and avocado. 

4. What is your biggest fear?

Someone breaking in in the middle of the night. 

5. Which season is your favorite and why?

Fall-changing colors of the leaves, crunchy leaves, the colors of everything, the cool weather, boots, scarves, and sweaters. 

6. What fictional character from a book really had an emotional influence on you?

I recently read The Storyteller and the character Minka was a holocaust survivor. It struck me really hard. Beautiful book. 

7. What is a way that you’ve “paid it forward”?
Honestly, I am, in essence, a teacher and I sincerely hope that working with my students pays if forward for the next generation. (How cheesy did that sound!)
8. Do you have a go-to outfit that you live in?
 
Leggings, boots, oversized shirt/sweater. Comfortable is the best way to go.
 
9. If you could go back in time and live in a certain time period, which would it be and why?

I love the look of 1920's flapper girls and I love the 1950's poodle skirts and leather jackets. Either one might be fun.
 
10. What is your favorite blog post you’ve written?

Hmm, I think the one about my dance room because it really highlighted one of my childhood (and recent adult) dreams coming true. Just for a peace of mind-the dance room was a childhood dream; the addition of the pole is a relatively recent addition.
 
11. Are you an introvert, extrovert, or somewhere in between?

Definitely somewhere in between. In new situations and with new people, I am a bit more reserved  but I am absolutely a loud mouth and have no fear of making a fool out of myself when I am with my friends. 



And now, 11 bloggers/blogs that I am nominating for the award:

Our Freaking Budget
Crystal's Musings
Living Like The Kings
Reluctant Entertainer
Mixing It Up
Runs For Cookies
All The Weigh
Sweet Tooth Sweet Life
A Swell Place To Dwell
The Orange Rhino
The Culinary Couple


And for those who I have nominated, here are your 11 questions:

1. How did you decide on the title or name for your blog?
2. What is your earliest childhood memory?
3. What is one of your guilty pleasures?
4. Were you named after anyone?
5. If there were a fire/disaster in your home and you had the opportunity to grab one item, what would it be and why?
6. How did you meet your best friend?
7. Do you still talk to any of your childhood friends?
8. How did your parents meet? Get engaged?
9. What would be your dream job if money were not a deciding factor?
10. What is your biggest pet peeve?
11. Did you have a favorite teacher, why?


To the nominated bloggers, here are the rules to follow:
1. Acknowledge the nominating blogger.
2. Share 11 random facts about yourself.
3. Answer 11 questions the nominating blogger has created for you.
4. Nominate 11 bloggers. They should be bloggers that you believe deserve some recognition and a little blogging love.
5. Post 11 questions for the bloggers that you nominated to answer.
6. Let all of the bloggers know that they’ve been nominated. You cannot nominate the blogger that nominated you.

Thank you again Maria!!! I can't wait to read the answers from the nominated bloggers.


Question for you?
What was the last thing you were nominated for?

Ten Things Tuesday

I did pretty well on list of things to take care of from last week:

1. Get up early at least two times to workout

I am not a morning person, nor am I anything close to being a runner but I took Mulder with me two mornings before work for a run/walk on the trails behind our house. There are two ponds along the trails-one directly in our backyard and the other a little further down the trail. I love the morning fog creeping over the ponds! It is starting to get easier to get up and out of bed that extra early time in the morning. My run-walks are only 15-20 minutes (hey, it's a start!) and my commute at the new job is the shortest one I have ever had, so it really isn't taking that much more time for me to get ready in the morning.

 

2. Find the perfect housewarming gift for a party
This one was really fun and I wish I snapped a picture of it. Our friends recently bought a house in the same town as Ryan and me. While they were doing some renovating and moving in, they tried to gift upon us a switch plate that had a mountain scene and an eagle soaring. While interesting and definitely a one-of-a-kind piece, I continued to veto the idea as Ryan tried to put it up everywhere in our house. Furthermore, I kept thinking that our friends needed to keep this for their home-after all, it was original to their home and it should remain there. So, to make it more of a statement piece, I put it inside of a shadow box and gave it back to them as a housewarming gift. Now, it can pay homage to the home it belongs in. 

3. Go to two pole classes

 Proud to say that I have been going to classes regularly and even "graduated" to level 2. I did this move-the extended butterfly-at the studio: 

My shoulders have been sore ever since!

4. Clean my car, inside and out
One of these days, I will get around to it. 

5. Read through ALL 55+ of my student files
6.  Organize my student files the way I like for all student files
7. Post about the dance room (yay, it's almost done and looks amazing!!!)  Read all about it! 
8. Renew Gone With The Wind and the other book I checked out from the library

I received an email from the library that they are over due and I still didn't renew them. Worst part is, the library is right down the street from me-there is no excuse. 

9. Start new book-Yeah, I was just lazy about this and came up with better things to do 

10. Mail my transcript request form and check. -

So, here's the scoop on this one. I was asked to get this for my new job from HR. It is been a few weeks and they haven't asked me for it since. I have already received my first paycheck (so I know that it won't be holding me up from getting paid) but since I am so freaking broke right now, I am trying to not spend any additional money and cut corners where I can. I am going to try pushing this one off as long as possible and keep the $50.00 fee for processing the transcript request in my wallet until it is absolutely necessary. I'm really hoping this doesn't backfire on me. What do you think, bad idea? 

So for the upcoming week, here is what I am thinking:
1. At least two times, wake up early and go for a walk/run. (If I keep this up, I may be able to cross of #66 on my 101 in 1001 list)
2. Start posting items on eBay (I have a giant box of stuff that I want to get rid of). Post at least 7 of my items
3. Set up my one year/three year calendar (it's a work thing that's not worth explaining here) but I've been super busy so I just gotta do this one
4. Pick up dry cleaning (I am the worst at remembering to go)
5.  Find a dress for a wedding 
6. Register for next year's pole competition. (I went to pole class yesterday and the instructor highly encouraged me to enter next year's competition!)
7. Clean my car (ha!)
8. Renew books/audio-books at library
9. Meal plan for two-three weeks
10.  Grocery shop for those two-three weeks

Okay, I need your advice here. I am not a stylish person. I used to think I had some style, but turns out-I don't.

 In any case, I have a wedding to go to in a few weeks. It is on a Sunday afternoon/evening (4:30) at a hotel in Boston. Typically, I would wear a little black dress or any other short dress but......since I have been working my butt off on the pole, my legs are pretty beat up. I mean it when I say they are bruised all over. Not like one or two small bruises, I'm talking covered from top to bottom in giant bruises. As proud as I am of these bruises (it means I did a hard trick!), I don't think it would be appropriate to wear a short dress. I don't know if the wedding is "long dress" appropriate though-and my only long dresses that I own are either my really fancy black dress I wore for my brothers black tie wedding when I was in the wedding party or a long but almost too casual maxi-dress.

 So what your suggestions? Find a new long dress? Can I even wear a long dress? Wear what something that I have (borrowing from friends is not an option-I am waaaay too short to wear any of my friends' clothes)? Deal with the bruises and wear a short dress? Eeek (I know, first world problems)


Join in on the fun. Well, it's probably not fun-but join anyway! It is at the very least productive! 

Happy Tuesday Folks! 

My Dance Room

I'm so happy to finally be able to post about my dance room! 

Growing up, I was a dancer. I took dance classes since I was 3 and barely out of diapers and began competing a few years later. 

I will be the first one to tell you-I am not good according to dance standards. My body is NOT made for dancing. My feet turn in, my knees are always bent. My legs, hips, and feet won't do what they are supposed to-I was practically born with deformed hips and had to have my right hip completely reconstructed. Trust me when I say, I wasn't born to be a dancer. 

But that didn't matter to me. I love dancing. It is my absolute favorite thing to do. I cant help it but feel the need to move, especially when a song comes on that makes me see the music. 

When I was growing up, I used to blast the radio and dance like a maniac in my room and that carried over to when I had my own apartments in my 20's where I would dance like a fool in the bathroom. (I have never admitted that to anyone until now!) Yes, slightly pathetic, but I couldn't help but find a way to dance. I have always thought how cool it would be to have my own "dance room" and figured when I grew up, I would find a way to make a "real" dance room. 

In addition to my love of dance, I started taking pole dance classes sporadically while I was living in Florida for grad school. When I moved back home, I took classes in this area as well, but again, would go sporadically. I would go for a few weeks and then stop again. And then, a few years ago, Ryan got and installed a pole for me in the basement at our last house. For my birthday this year, he gave me the ultimate dream present: my own dance room, complete with the pole. 

Since our basement has pretty low ceilings, we mad the decision to build the room in the garage where the ceilings are much higher and there is generally more room. 

We started with this: 

Ryan began by clearing out the back section of the garage on my side. I am forgoing my ability to park in the garage for the dance space. He then installed recess lights. After that, he cleaned the walls, ceiling, and piping and then painted the area with some left over paint from the bedroom and living room. We did get some white paint specifically for the ceiling area though. Then, he laid down some floors and installed the pole. 

Right now, I have the mirrors just propped up against the wall for the time until I can get the proper brackets to go into the concrete wall. 

It is pretty freaking awesome. since I found a new studio that is close to both home and my new job, I started taking classes regularly. (Wahoo-a 101 in 1001 goal!) Also, I have been using my dance room regularly and have now officially mastered a trick that I have been working towards since I started! (Yep, another 101 in 1001 goal!) I believe it is called the Gemini, but not totally sure. Although it is far from the most flattering photograph (I am holding my breath while upside down!), I was really proud of myself for finally figuring out how to do this with only one leg. 

Gemini

That's all I got for now, but if you are following along with my 101 in 1001 list, I can now cross off three more items on my list (build the dance room, go to pole classes regularly, and master a new trick) and add another $15.00 to my savings account. 

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Questions for you:

What has been the best birthday gift you have ever received?

Typical Me and Friend Making Monday But Really It Is Tuesday

Typical me...day late and a dollar short. But, it's been a great start of the week. I recently started a position at a new school district and I am super excited about it. It is in an urban environment and I am really looking forward to joining a district in this type of environment. I tried working in a suburban environment for a little while and although there are perks to working in that type of environment, my heart really belongs to the urban environment. Needless to say, I am really looking forward to the upcoming school year and I sincerely hope I have found my "forever school" where I will be until I retire. Now I just need to know what school I will be working in-seeing that school starts tomorrow! 

We had a district-wide orientation and welcoming this morning followed by a few hour break. This afternoon, I will be heading to the administration office with my other fellow SLP's (who I got to meet yesterday) and will find out my school assignment. 

With that being said, it's time for another edition of Friends Making Monday! (uhh, Tuesday. See-day late and a dollar short.)

If you’ve taken part in FMM then you know the rules. If you’re new, please take a moment to answer this week’s question on your own blog then add your link in the comments section here at: www.alltheweigh.com so we can all see your FMM questions and answers. Please invite your blog readers to add their links here too so everyone has to opportunity to be seen. The idea is to connect with other awesome bloggers so take a moment to post your own FMM post and comment on a couple of other posts. Now it’s time for this week’s topic!

Questions and Answers

1.  What is a typical weekday like for you?  Loaded question. I am new to the school district so I am not quite sure what it will exactly look like but I am assuming it is something like this: Hour and a half -two hours before school starts: Wake up, press snooze, whine about it being early, finally get out of bed, get dressed, try on three different outfits before selecting something that I have worn a gazillion times, do hair-decide I don't like how it looks and throw it up in a ponytail, do makeup, eat breakfast, make coffee, pack lunch, drive to work, work until school gets out, drive home, and spend the rest of the evening doing stuff around the house and cooking dinner. 

2.  Name one song that never fails to make you happy and one song that you always listen to when you’re sad. Any song that is a "camp" song will automatically make me nostalgic and think of camp

3.  Did you watch the VMA’s last night? No, and after hearing all the Miley crap, I'm glad I didn't.

4.  Share at least two that you possess.Two skills I am assuming. I am pretty good at fine-motor things-like untangling necklaces and untying knots. And I can fold laundry well. Pathetic, but true. 

5.  Share one thing that you wish you had the confidence to do.  Enter a pole competition. I recently heard about these competitions and while I am no where near ready, I think it would be really fun to get into competing. After all, I was a competitive dancer while growing up and loved it. 

6. Tell us about one insecurity that people might be surprised that you have.  I am petrified about driving in Boston. All the one way streets and crazy drivers-it's so overwhelming! 

7.  If you could be the CEO of any company, which one would you choose to lead?  I wouldn't. want to be a CEO- I know nothing of business, let alone running a business. I wouldn't want all that responsibility. 

8. List at least three hobbies that make you happy. Puzzles, dancing, and baking. 

Latest update in the 2000 piece puzzle. This one is taking me forever!

9.  Is there someone in your life that you wish you could say “I love you” to?  Ummm, not really. Well yes, but I am choosing to keep that private. 

10.  Share one cool thing that happened over the weekend.  I signed up for a ten class commitment at a new pole studio and Ryan is almost done building out my dance room! We bought floors yesterday and ordered a new piece to secure the pole into the ceiling. Check back soon for pictures of the final product! 

Now it’s your turn to answer this week’s questions.  Don’t forget to come back and link up in the comments!  Happy Monday Tuesday, friends!

Pole Fitness and S'mores Truffles

Sunday mornings are usually one of my favorite times of the week.

Yesterday morning, I went to pole class at the same studio I went to with my friends last week. I ended up purchasing a punch card package (10 classes for $100 plus yesterdays class for free) as opposed to paying $25 for a drop-in. The studio is so much closer to my house (and new job!) than the last studio I went to. I'm hoping with the purchase of the punch card, I will start to go regularly again. And since Ryan has been working feverishly on the garage-turned-pol-dance-room, I will have

 

a place to practice and workout at home.

Seriously, pole dancing is one tough workout but I absolutely love it.  Growing up as a dancer, I find any type of exercise that involves movement and music to be fun.

Side note: There is a pole competition in a few weeks that a bunch of the instructors from the pole studio are competing at and I am so excited to go and watch! I know I just restarted pole dancing but there is a big part of me that would love to get into competing (someday, not anytime soon)



Okay, without any further ado, I present to you the easiest (although slightly messy to make) dessert that I briefly teased you with at yesterday's post:

SMORES TRUFFLES

They are to die for. And, since I don't do anything complicated in the kitchen, they can be filed under the category of pathetically easy to make (just like my homemade ravioli). I made these as an upgrade to the Oreo truffles that have been floating all over the pinterest land.

Can you count to four? Because that is the total number of ingredients you need:


-Cream filled chocolate sandwich cookies (AKA: Oreo's but for this, I used the $1.00 per package store brand)
-Package of cream cheese
-Melting chocolate
-S'mores Sprinkles (I bought the package at my local Michael's)


Ready for how easy this is:

1. Crush cookies.




2. Combine crushed cookies with block of cream cheese. I found that it was easiest to put on rubber gloves and mix it all together.  Make silly comment about how the mixture of the cookies and cream cheese looks like a pile of poop.




3. Form into meatball size balls by rolling around a small amount of the mixture in your hands. Continue until all the mixture has been formed into balls.



4. Refrigerate for 30 minutes or so. This makes it easier for the next few steps.



5.  Melt chocolate according to package directions.

6. Dip chilled balls into melted chocolate and immediately sprinkle with S'mores sprinkles. Place gently onto wax paper until hardened

These are best stored in the fridge until ready to consume

Tips:
1. Find a method that works for you in terms of dipping the balls into the chocolate. Items that may be helpful include, but are not limited to, toothpicks, forks, skewers, spoons. Make it work for you!
2. They are REALLY good if they are stored in the freezer and then eaten as a frozen treat.


Question for you:
1. Do you like S'mores?
2. Would you or have you ever tried pole dancing? What are your thoughts?

Enjoy your Sunday!