Happy Thanksgiving!

Normally Thanksgiving is a small affair for us, just my mom, dad, sister, brother, sister-in-law, and me. This year my grandmother decided she wanted to host a big lunch at her house in Marble Falls. I almost didn’t make it as I was fighting a hellacious pink eye infection in both eyes for most of this week. (I blame my P.E. kids as at least 3 out of the 550 students who always seem to have it at any given time.) My eyesight completely blurred out for two whole days, which was obnoxious and really unsettling! I would have a super hard time being blind as I just love to read way too much. I was so bored those two days and missing Carolina, my Kindle, so much! Afterwards, I felt lame about that but also truly grateful that this Thanksgiving I am in fact relatively healthy and am blessed in so many other ways. So for a change we all went to my grandmother’s. There were lots of family members there that I hadn’t seen in awhile and also a few random people who I could swear I’ve never met before. I don’t really understand how they got there- to this family only gathering, but there they were. So weird! Anyways, this year I have decided that I am thankful for being over the pink eye (finally!), my immediate family and parts of my extended family J, my AMAZING God and the fact that He always wants to be close to me, and for the fact that it’s BLACK FRIDAY tomorrow! J Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever. Psalm 107:1

Turkey Trot Fun Run

I spent my lovely Saturday morning working at our annual elementary school Turkey Trot. Apparently they've had five of them but this is the first one I've ever gone to. (I had to work to fufill comp time hour requirements for my job.) Students and their families bring canned food as an entry fee to the High School track and then walk/jog a mile, or however much they want to run, with their families. We give out turkey tokens that the kids can tie on their shoes and the kids like having the mile they ran today count towards their jogging logs at school. It was more fun than work for me which was awesome except for the fact that it was FREEZING this morning! I was completely (think block of ice) frozen the moment I got there and did not warm up until after running my fourth lap. (That’s one mile for me!) The best thing about being a teacher is that you are an instant celebrity anywhere you go with kids. As soon as I started jogging around the track I had kids running behind me, beside, and in front of me. I swear some of them were trying to trip me for fun. I didn’t want them to think their teacher was an old lady so I had to run extra hard and try not to embarrass myself, something I am starting to pay for right now. (I just popped in four Advil and propped my feet up.) Despite the fact that I now think I actually might be an old lady, the morning was a huge success and I am now eligible to get the two days off before Thanksgiving, since I met my required comp time hours. (So it’s a win for everyone.) Happy Turkey Trot day everyone!

Halloween :)

Happy Halloween everyone! I pretty much spent my whole weekend finishing a huge research paper on the Library of Congress for my graduate class. So basically I had oodles of fun. I did almost eat my body weight in Smarties candy. (Extremely hard to do as they are a very light weight candy.) Here's a video of a super cool Halloween costume I saw on the news.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIzKK2tVrsQ

Have a scary night!

Grand Canyon

My family and I travelled all over New Mexico, Arizona, and Colorado (in that order) the summer before last and it was a fantastic trip for several reasons. I'd been to the Grand Canyon when I was smaller but had a hard time remembering it. We decided to go back to take Hallie this time and also to visit the North Rim, which we had heard was awesome too. (And it was!) The Arizona 09 trip also made the Taylor Family "vacation hall of fame/shame". (The trip ended with my dad throwing out his back and us rushing back to Texas right before we were going to take a Jeep up the side of a mountain. We never made it up but had to pay for the jeep rental and an expensive back surgery anyways.)

Anyways, the cool thing about the Grand Canyon is its surreal-ness. It doesn't look real even when you are standing right in front of it. The whole time I was there I felt like I could reach out and touch the screen that must be projecting the picture out front of me. It was so huge and out of this world it had to be an image rather than real. Trying to look at the Canyon and comprehend how massive and intricate it was made me feel sort of like those people in the bible (I'm thinking of Moses, but there had to be more) who tried to look directly at God. They weren't able to comprehend just who He is and how awesome He can be and neither can I! It was an incredible experience and number #6 on my list of awesome life moments. It made me feel so small and insignificant, but in the best and most humbling way. :) Lesson learned... God is definitely GREAT!

Carolina

To celebrate the advent of my fantastic new job, I bought myself a new BFF: Carolina. Carolina is my new Kindle, an electronic reading device from Amazon.com. Since I'm home sick on a gorgeous October Friday night, I finally have the time to pen a love-blog to my favorite new piece of technology. I decided to purchase Carolina after a homework assignment I had to do for the cataloging class I am taking right now. If you have no idea what’s going on in my life right now, I’m in grad school at UNT so I can become a children’s librarian. And yes, cataloging is the worst idea for a class ever, and yes I thoroughly despise it. The best thing to come out of cataloging 101 was an article review I had to do on modern technology relating to the library. I chose to read an article on electronic readers, and from then on I pretty much had to have one! The new job gave me a great excuse to get a Kindle and Carolina is so incredibly cool! The new generation Kindles have free 3G so you can buy and download books everywhere. I also figured out how to check my email on it and it works globally so I can take it with me to Paris this spring. Super excited about that! I already got a bunch of free books from amazon.com and the not so free ones are still really cheap to buy and download. Check it out on the amazon.com website if you are interested in getting one. I love my new toy!

http://www.amazon.com/Kindle-Wireless-Reading-Display-Generation/dp/B003FSUDM4/ref=sa_menu_kdp33

Here is a picture of Carolina the Kindle. I bought a cool “skin” to go over her, so now she looks like a mini-library.

New job!

I have seriously been neglecting my blog lately because I have much more important things to be doing- namely, my new job! I have been trying to get in with any school district since I graduated from Texas State last December and FINALLY a position became available last week and I got it! I am, as of Monday this week, the new P.E. aide at Marble Falls Elementary. This is incredibly exciting for me for several reasons...

(In no particular order)

#1 I can now get in to all home football games for FREE! This is a raise in itself as I was paying $7 each week to watch Hallie in the half time show. (Have yet to really watch any of the actual game.) Go Mustangs!

#2 I can get into the football games using my new employee badge! This is the thing I was most excited to get. It's super shiny, has my picture (which I made the guy retake about 7 times before he could print it), and is the most lovely shade of purple.

#3 I have to start paying for my own insurance now. This is not a perk at all, but does make me feel so grown up, in a broke sort of way.

#4 I am getting super skinny and in shape doing P.E. all day. Downside... I have weirdo tan lines and they will get much worse as we go outside more to jog.  


As you can clearly see the pros vastly outweigh the teeny tiny “cons”. I am so happy to be "in" with the district and with my new job! Here is a picture of my brand-spanking-new badge I get to wear every day.

Trevi Fountain

The Trevi Fountain was definitely my favorite spot in all of Rome. It's way bigger in person than you think it would be and in way smaller of a square than you would think. (There's plenty of fountain and not very much room for it.) The sculptures (done by Nicola Salvi) were amazing and true works of art. All these surreal looking figures just seemed to rise up out of naturally flowing marble, blended together in this ethereally beautiful way.

There were always tons of people there, and not just tourists, yet I always felt secluded. Some of my favorite memories are of that spot and of the Tiramisu gelato I enjoyed there with my friend Madison. Just thinking about the water and enjoying my time in the eternal city. The trick to the fountain is to hold the coin in your right hand and then throw it in backwards over your left shoulder. This way, and only this way, is how you guarantee your return to Rome. (Giordano, my Italian tour guide, taught me that.) Arrivederci Rome! Until we meet again!

Here is the front, my friend Madison, and that amazing Tiramisu gelato!

Mi hijo

This weekend I got to spend some time with my nephew, a hispanic baby named Juan Carlos. My sister Hallie is taking child development this semester and had to take home for the weekend a screaming, crying, fake pooping, computerized bebe. For the first four hours he was pretty boring and pretty creepy. As it turns out he is entirely made of plastic and yet somehow makes breathing noises. Chucky, anyone? Hallie spent the first night feeding him and changing his diapers at 1:00, 2:00, 3:30, and 5:30 am. Why didn't she just ignore him like any good parent would, roll over, and go back to sleep, you might ask? Because apparently if you ignore the cries he just gets progressively louder and the computer recording her grade drops lower and lower. I'm happy to say that we survived the weekend and Juan Carlos got deported first thing monday morning. The good news... Hallie made a 100 on the assignments. The bad news... my mom and dad won't be getting grandchildren from Hallie or I for many, many years.

Me with my mexican nephew. :)

When you feed him he makes actual sucking noises. So weird!



Au Revoir America

I officially signed up for my Paris trip this weekend and I'm so excited to be going to France with my sister for 8 days this Spring! Here is the trip outline... go ahead, be jealous. :)

Day 1  -  Fly overnight to France

Day 2  -  Paris

Arrive in Paris
Take a walking tour of Paris:

Île de la Cité

Visit Notre Dame Cathedral

Day 3  -  Paris • Versailles

Take a guided tour of Paris:

Place de la Concorde

Champs-Élysées

Arc de Triomphe









Les Invalides

Conciergerie

Take a guided tour of Versailles:

State Apartments

Hall of Mirrors

Gardens

Day 4  -  Paris

Visit the Musée d’Orsay

Participate in a tarte flambée lesson

Day 5  -  Take train to Chartres and the Loire Valley:

Chartres Cathedral

Chenonceau

Day 6  -  Paris

Visit the Louvre

Visit the Eiffel Tower

Day 7  -  Paris

Enjoy a free day in Paris

Day 8  -  Depart for home

My Life as a Florist

Today was my last day at my part time job working for a florist. I had a lot of fun and learned a lot about flowers, arrangements, and how to get along with absolutely anyone. Here are some of the things I created over the past month and a half... enjoy!

This cute little baby mum went to one of my kindergarteners from last year. I spent much of my time making homecoming mums, (which I already knew how to do) and most of them were for Burnet. Why a baby needs a mum is still anyone's guess!



Vase arrangements like this one were my favorites to do but were hard to learn. This arrangement actually got sent back to the shop. It was sent back because (and I directly quote here), "I refuse to accept anything from him; I don't care how beautiful the flowers are." I don't know what "him" did but apparently flowers are not going to cut it as an apology.

Sometimes people ordered ugly things from pictures on the internet and I had to make them.

The absolute worst arrangement anyone can order is a dozen red roses. It's the hardest to make and is also very expensive! It took me four tries to finally perfect the arrangement and I would get so frustrated with it. Roses also suck because they have an unreasonable amount of thorns. Why do they need them anyway?An abundance of predators? Well guess what, roses? You now have one more! 

This was my first and last funeral arrangement- a pink basket arrangement. The worst thing about the job was reading the obituaries every morning to check how many funeral arrangements we would have to make.  I only look happy in the picture because I got the arrangement right and it was really pink and cute. Funeral arrangements were not fun to do!

The list of flowers that I actually like has gotten a lot smaller since I started working at the shop. Most likely due to the fact that I went home everyday with a new and probably bleeding cut somewhere on my hands. My favorite flower was and still is Lisianthus. It comes in almost any color and looks just like lace. The texture is so feathery and delicate and it smells amazing! Let's review... lisianthus good, roses bad. This is a picture of the vase arrangement of Lisianthus that I made for my mom.  

The American

I don't normally like to post movie reviews because I'm not your average movie viewer. I have really specific standards for my movie experience and usually only like a certain kind of movie. Also, no one ever agrees with my opinion of the movie, actor, story line, or whatever. For this reason I also try not to recommend movies to people. I do, however, think that everyone on planet Earth will agree with my thoughts on this movie I saw with my friend Jason…

 


The American looked like a hit originally because of…

#1 The presence of George Clooney.

#2 This movie is marketed as a thriller with some assassins and lots of action… some of that contributed by George Clooney

#3 Brief nudity + George Clooney. Enough said.

#4 The movie takes place in Italy, an often beautiful and romantic country.

While the American did deliver all four of the reasons I originally believed would make it a hit, it was probably the worst movie experience I have had in awhile. Here is why…

#1 George Clooney was present but any sort of background music or sound was not. It was so incredibly awkward on the screen and in the theatre because every little movement was heard i.e. coughing, shifting, slurping drinks, and even loud breathing. I think I heard someone’s cell phone vibrate from 10 rows away. It seemed to make the movie ten times longer because you were just waiting for the music to cue the entire time.  

#2 George Clooney quits the assassin thing immediately when the movie starts and spends the whole film holed up in a little room making a gun, (basically). A couple of people died, which was cool, but the only major thrill I experienced at the theatre that day was getting an Icee at the snack counter. (They let me have coke and cherry flavors mixed together!)

#3 The brief nudity is actually prolonged nudity (mostly of the female variety) and there is a quite horrific and also extended sex scene with George and an Italian prostitute. Again, with no music or sounds except the ones you don’t want to hear. Yuck! There is a brief glimpse of Clooney’s butt, which was everything I expected it to be and more, but I was very distracted throughout out the movie trying to figure out why his body looked like he was 25 and his face looked like he was 55.

#4 The parts of Italy shown in the movie were the absolute worst. Mostly it took place on dimly lit and incredibly dirty streets or in Clooney’s room which had absolutely no decoration and dirty walls. I’ve been in 5 different (and rather varied) cities in Italy but I’ve seen insides of Italian trash cans that looked better than the sets for that movie.  

So you still want my recommendation? Skip the movie, skip the action, and skip the nudity for sure! Do not skip on the Icee though. Get a large and drink until you have a brain freeze. Better yet, have three! It will still be a more enjoyable and much less awkward experience than seeing The American and is way more financially savvy.

Mmmmm Fall!

This is how I started my morning. How did you start yours?


















My favorite Starbucks drink. I think it tastes like Fall in a cup!

Paris

Bonjour mes amis! My sister Hallie and I are dying to go on this trip to Paris next spring break. The trip is lead by our friend Terri who goes with a big group of students through an organization called EF Tours. She's gone every year for the past few years on a big week long trip abroad to various destinations. Last year I went with her to Italy and spent a week travelling through Assisi, Florence, Pisa, and Rome. It was definitely a life-changing experience for a travel-junkie like me and a once in a lifetime opportunity. (I’ll post lots of pictures of this amazing trip later.) This year Terri and her group are headed to Paris, and Hallie and I must be on that plane with them! We are already practicing our French and have tucked away our wallets into an air tight, motion sensor detecting vault with guard dogs and a biometric access retrieval system. No idea what that even means, but I do know that I won't be spending money on anything I don't absolutely need to survive until spring break 2011! I’m a little bummed that this includes trips to the movies, Starbucks, and super cute boots. (Says my mom…) If you are interested in going with us or just want to check out the tour information visit http://www.eftours.com/Student-travel/MyTeachersTours/teachers-tour.aspx?salestour=%20437793. J'espère que vous voyagez avec nous! Au revoir!

RAIN!

Rain has got the be my most favoritest thing on this planet. Even more than chocolate, even more than sleeping late, I LOVE when it rains! I have always thought that I could totally live in Seattle, which stacks up an inpressive 37 inches of annual rainfall and has cloudcover for over 60% of the year. My aunt lived there for a few years and hated it. She says everyone has pale complexions, frizzy hair, and is depressed all the time. Well I can check off pale complexion already. I live in Texas and am one of the whitest people I know. (I also sustain a rather healthy fear of skin cancer.) My hair curls in the rain and looks awesome. No problems there! And as for the depression- I have a naturally sunny disposition and am usually happiest when it rains. Problem solved. Seattle, here I come!

Who wouldn't want to live here? It's like the optimum blend of city and country with perfect weather! (Or at least I think so.)

Proverbs 16:9

In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps.


Proverbs 16:9 is one of my favorite verses, and one that is especially poignant right now. Every time I read that verse out of Proverbs, I always hear God saying, "Hey! Those desires in your heart? I know what they are and it's ok to have them!" I could have made an amazing Catholic because I do the Christian guilt thing really well. (Sorry in advance to my Catholic friends!) I feel guilty all the time when I want things that are more than what I need. (This is in spite of knowing that God has plans for me to proper.) These desires I have must come from somewhere- so why would they not be from God? As soon as I think that, I hear the same old argument in my head- well, what about worldly desires? My answer (to myself) is this...