WILW

I haven't participated in What I'm Loving Wednesday lately and I think I am a little overdue. There are so many things to love today after all! 

That there are only 13 actual school days left. The end is near! 

My new sandals that just arrived in the mail

The fact that this weekend is a long weekend.

These Flowers with that vase- gorgeous!

These words..

What are you loving today?

Praying

It is absolutely heartbreaking to watch the coverage on the Oklahoma tornado. My prayers are with this state. 

My weekend

This weekend my family headed to the lake for a little relaxation. There were scattered thunderstorms but it didn't stop us from enjoying the lake a little bit! We spent the first night just my sister and I watching hour upon hour of Law and Order, eating Oreo pie. Whoops, so much for a healthy night in. 

Saturday I was able to eat a HUGE breakfast which I had been craving.. take not one but two naps, read 100+ pages of my new book, go on a short run and lay out. A Saturday well spent if you ask me! 

Nap number two might have happened while I was laying out. How precious is Cooper holding down the fort?! 

..On a random note, this is the new book I started. It's called The Same Sweet Girls. I'm loving it so far! I'll be sure to share more once I finish. 

Sunday didn't get any more productive seeing as I discovered The Lying Games on Netflix and managed to watch almost an entire season. I hadn't ever seen the show but quickly discovered it's very addictive. Any other Lying Game fans out there?

Have a wonderful Monday!

Currently Craving

Happy Friday friends!! I could not be more thrilled to say those words! It has been a busy week for me. I am ready for 3pm to roll around so I can head to the lake for a weekend of sunshine, reading and resting with my family. 

On another note- it's amazing I have any followers at all given how completely random this blog is! I tend to blog about what ever is on my mind at the moment. Right now what is on my mind is food cravings! For almost two months I had the biggest craving for homemade banana pudding. I FINALLY got some last weekend, thank goodness! That is a long time to go craving something! It is hard to find though and I wasn't ready to brave the recipe. Although I did pin it, ha. Anyways, now that craving has been fixed I guess my stomach was ready to throw something else my way. -Breakfast. I am now craving breakfast food. I don't care if it comes in breakfast, brunch or dinner format but I want real true, southern breakfast food. 

Hopefully I wont have to wait too long before I get a hold of some of this amazingness.. 

I grew up eating biscuits with tomato gravy. 

My mom is from Alabama and this is most certainly an Alabama staple 

Pancakes! 

If I can't get tomato gravy, sawmill gravy will work! No complaints here(:

Waffles! 

scrambled eggs 

and to top it off... I'm  a sucker for chocolate milk 

What are you currently craving?

Summer Beverages

It is finally starting to really feel like spring is here and summer is approaching. We have had a chillier May than I remember having in the past. We have a high of 90 in my parts today! With the warm weather I have been adjusting my go to drinks throughout the day. In the winter I love coffee/hot tea and things of that nature but right now I'm wanting beverages that are more refreshing. No one can drink chai tea poolside obviously! Here are some of my top go to drinks for the warmer weather. 

We can't let the neighborhood kids down so lemonade is a must! 

On the days I'm tired of regular lemonade I plan to try this peach lemonade!

(I am a sucker for anything peach) 

My newest favorite is flavored sparkling water 

It will also be perfect to add fresh fruit to this summer!

and last, I don't drink many sodas but I think 

ginger ale can be so refreshing!  especially when I'm not feeling well (sunburnt evenings) 

What are your go to warm weather drinks?

Counting Down..

I officially have 18 school days left and a couple teacher workdays before it is SUMMER BREAK!! The end of the year is so close I can hardly believe it! I'm excited for the school year to end so I can spend my days doing the following:

working out, twice a day

This is something I have been wanting to do for a while but having to be at work so early, it hasn't been an option. This summer will be perfect for two a days though!

go to the pool all the time 

head to the beach whenever possible 

read read read 
lots of books at above mentioned pool and beach.. 

plan and organize for next school year! 

I have so many files I am dying to reorganize before next year. There are also some parts of my classroom I am looking forward to changing for next year. This summer will be the perfect opportunity to prepare. (I know this school year hasn't even ended but I can't help but start thinking about the next one!)

As you can tell there is nothing demanding about my summer to do list. I absolutely can.not.wait.

Weekend Recap

I had quite a busy but wonderful weekend! There was lots to celebrate for sure. After school Friday I headed to my hometown to visit my parents. We had a great dinner and listened to some live music downtown. I am beyond thrilled that the weather is warm enough to sit outside!! 

Saturday morning my sister and I surprised my mom for mothers day. We told her to be ready to leave the house at 7:30am to head to Greensboro. When we got there we told her that we would be running in the Miles For Memory 5K and that we had been secretly raising money for Alzheimer's. A little background is that my grandmother had Alzheimers. We wanted to run the race in memory of her. It was also a mothers day present for my mom. It was also so nice to see my mom waiting for Ginny and I at the finish line! I can now cross running a 5K off my bucket list! (:

After the race we did a little shopping and had lunch but then I had to hit the road to head back to Greenville. I was sadly not even home 24hrs! It was not only mothers day this weekend but also graduation weekend! Some of my very close college friends as well as my all time best friend Ashley and roommate graduated from ECU this weekend. There were lots of graduation festivities going on so I of course had to be in town for at least one night. My roommate rented out a restaurant/bar so we started our celebration there and continued through the night. It made for one sleepy girl Sunday morning for sure. 

There wasn't much time to be sleepy though because some more graduate friends rented an inflatable water slide for the day to celebrate! There was no way I was going to miss out on that fun.. 

Who said growing up wasn't fun?! (; It really was a wonderful weekend. I hope yours was just as nice! 

Mothers Day Wisdom

In honor of Mothers day this Sunday let's take a moment to appreciate all the wisdom mothers are blessed with and thankfully pass down to daughters. 

Via Southern Living 

and on a completly different note- HAPPY GRADUATION DAY to my all time best friend Ashley and my roommate Stephanie!! Love yall! Welcome to grown up life(:

What Teaching has Taught Me

I am in serious disbelief that there only only twenty two and a half days left of school. I will soon have my first year as a teacher complete! I'm feeling similar to how I felt this time last year. It's a little bittersweet, I'm ready for the summer break but I'm going to miss my kiddos! 

A year ago at this time I had finished my internship in a second grade class and thought I was prepared for my own classroom. I was prepared but also not prepared.. it's a lot more than you expect at first! I have learned SO MUCH through this first year teaching, and no, I don't mean how to lesson plan or how to organize centers, I mean real life lessons. 

My first year teaching has taught me 

How to balance work and life

because no, work is not my life, it's only a portion of it. The first half of my year was spent working 6:30am-6:00 pm and bringing work home, everyday including weekends. It's not healthy, it had to stop, and it did. I now realize the importance of not letting work take over friendships, health and happiness. 

What a kind word can mean to someone of all ages

My kids respond so much better when my classroom is filled with positivity and not just the negative. It's not just my kids though, their parents do as well. Be kind! People crave it. 

That great things happen in time, not overnight. 

Patience, dear, patience. I thought I was spinning in circles growing kids in their reading level. Come mid year benchmark my RB student was at a G .. I know that means nothing to most people- what it means, she grew 7 reading levels in a matter of months. That is AWESOME. Good things come when you put in the effort and give it time. 

That I will always be a student 

I learn something new from my students and coworkers every single day

The importance of coworkers and collaboration

My coworkers, more specifically the first grade team, have become like a second family. I honestly don't know if I could do my job with out the support from them. Just giving each other that "knowing" smile when you pass in the halls makes all the difference. 

 Well that's all for today. I'm off to work to learn more lessons of course(: Happy Wednesday! 

Let's Talk Flowers

I say let's talk flowers but I really mean let's view some flowers. There aren't many words to describe these beauties. Meet my all time favorite flowers- 

Let's hope that April showers will soon bring May flowers!