Just a spoonful of sugar...

No idea why that's the title I came up with. Maybe because it's the song currently stuck in my head. I have no idea why THAT particular song is in my head. I do love Mary Poppins though.

You can tell this is going to be a random post can't you? I just felt like writing today. Stick with me!

Today was a LONG day. What made it long? My beyond boring WAY BEYOND boring workshop. I learned so much at my workshop last week. It was on the new standards for reading. I just figured that this workshop would be the same since it was about the new math standards.

I WAS WRONG. It was the most painful, boring, useless workshop ever. They didn't give us our standards and they had us work with high school standards. The only positive part of the whole day is that my old teammate and good friend Megan was there, as well as my old colleague Laura. Laura was there with a teacher from her school. She was really nice and just as bored as we were.

Only reason I am going back? I get paid if I go every day. $120 dollars a day to be exact. So even though it was bad, I'll stick it out.

On the bright side, my grandma came in to town. She lives in Puerto Rico. My mom's 60th birthday is Thursday, so my grandma came to surprise her. I wish I had a picture of my mom's face when she saw my grandma sitting on the couch.  We ended up going out to eat to celebrate her being here.

Love her! My grandpa couldn't join her because he is in the beginning stages of dementia and his doctor didn't think it'd be a good idea for him to fly. But he's here in spirit.

Oh! Paige at The Eloping Stethoscope wrote the SWEETEST things about me. Go check it out!
And, I really, REALLY want to win the Erin Condren giveaway over at About Fais! I can't bring myself to spend $50 on a planner, but I know I would use the heck of it!

See? Totally random post. Hope you all had a terrific Tuesday! Off to watch the Olympics. Please don't tell me who wins!

Smell the roses...

I normally don't post twice or let alone do two link up posts, but I really love Jessica's Smell the Roses task for this week. Thought about waiting until tomorrow to publish it, but I loved the challenge too much! Her challenge was to create a list of ten things you are thankful for. In the last week, I've really tried to focus on those good things. Here goes!

1.

My family. This is one of my favorite pictures of my entire extended family. Even though my mom, my dad, my brother and I have lived away from them almost my entire life, I'm still really thankful for them. All of them are always there when you need them.

2.

My pretty girl. She makes me laugh. Athena drives me crazy, but I know my life is much better having her as my pet.

3.

This guy. He has his moments and I have mine, but I adore him. He's always surprising me, like on our Atlanta trip.

4. I'm thankful that I have a job doing what I love. If I wasn't teaching, I'm not sure what else I would be doing. I'm very excited for this new school year at a school that seems fantastic.

5.

I never thought I'd say this, but I'm thankful for the city that I live in. I'm close to the beach, we have an NFL team, it's huge but still feels like a small town, and it's close to a lot of other fun places. I'm glad that I grew up here. (16 year old me is rolling her eyes!)

6.  I'm thankful for my friends. Two of my closest friends live far away, but if I need them, I know they'll answer my call. I'm lucky enough that my best friend is someone who has known me for ages but still wants to hang out! Oh and I'm thankful for my CRES friends, the ones who didn't want me to leave, but supported my decision to do so.

7. The internet. It can be a curse at times, but it is something to be thankful. It makes staying in contact with said friends and family a lot easier. It's helped me better my teaching. Plus, without it I wouldn't have met all you amazing people who read my blog!

8. My parents (guess they're techinically under number one, but this is my list right?) now that I deal with kids on a daily basis, I can tell how hard it was for them to raise us right. My brother and I would not be the people we are without their sacrifices, love and support. I'm glad I got punished when I acted up. They taught me well. Oh and my brother. He's my best friend. For reals.

This picture is SUPER OLD and SUPER CHEESY but still one of my faves!

9.

This one is no where as deep as the others, but I'm so thankful that the Olympics are taking place the last two weeks of my summer vacation! This way, I can stay up late watching all the action and not have to wake up early the next day!

10. I'm thankful for books. I'm glad I have something that can take me completely out of this world when I need it. :) (I need to pick the new Emily Giffin book ASAP)

What are you thankful for? Go link up with Jessica!

Fun times in the ATL...

I can easily say this weekend was a great one! J and I headed up to Atlanta. We left Jacksonville at 8 a.m. on Friday. J made a pretty good driver:

So focused. So serious. 

We made  great time, until we hit an accident RIGHT outside of downtown Atlanta. Stinks, but we ended up getting to the hotel around 5:00 p.m. Our room was TINY but still fabulous. I especially loved that our pillows were marked:

I prefer soft pillows, so this worked out for me. The bed was comfy too. (Important factor right?)

That night, I bought tickets for us to go the Braves game. J is a huge Braves fan. I was bummed at missing the Opening Ceremony, but being at the exact location of the Opening Ceremony of the Centennial Games in 1996 (say THAT three times fast!) was pretty awesome.

Olympic rings logo right before you get to Turner Field

That would be the 1996 Olympic cauldron. You know, the one that Muhammad Ali lit? I was in total awe. I remember watching those Olympics as an 11 year old. SO NEAT!

The game? Oh that was pretty fun too. The Braves won (not going to say yay to that, I'm a Mets fan!) but I'm glad they did for J.

 I had my two favorite ballpark treats:

Chili cheese dog!

Ice cream in a helmet!

It's not a baseball game without those treats! The ice cream was the perfect treat on a hot and humid day.

The next day, J surprised me with tickets to both the Georgia Aquarium and the CNN Studios. He's really an amazing guy; I'm a lucky girl.

Being the nerd that I am, I loved the CNN tour. We even got to see them filming some of the live shows. The CNN center is HUGE!

Like I said, HUGE! I took a picture of J riding North America's largest free standing escalator. The bottom two pictures are the newsrooms for CNN and HLN. Pretty impressive.

After that it was aquarium time. To get to the aquarium, we walked through Centennial Park.

Love the Olympics!

The Georgia Aquarium is the largest in the world. They have quite the collection of animals, including whale sharks.

He was half the size of this huge glass window. Such a sight to take in! J and I saw lots of other neat things as well.

Like beluga whales! Baby beluga, oh baby beluga...

These photos just don't do them justice!

J was bummed we missed the piranha feeding. :) If you look carefully in the starfish pic, you'll see this eel hiding out. Instantly reminded me of Flotsam and Jetsam from The Little Mermaid. You know, Ursula's henchmen?

Speaking of Disney, I found Dory! Best part was that I was NOT the only one singing "Just keep swimming, just keep swimming!"

Found some super cute river otters. One kept getting mad at the other for making him drop his rock.

I'm dying from the adorableness!

I'm so glad I got to go to both of these places. Like I said J = awesome boyfriend. Oh and on the way out spotted these two amazing shirts:

Like I said, AWESOME right?

Of course, the whole reason we went to Atlanta was to go to DCI Southeastern Championship. J is a drummer (it's not his main job but it's definitely his passion.) He was in a drum corps himself and loves to watch it. I had no idea what it was before I started dating him! I do like the shows though (even if I can't really tell why one particular show is better than the other.)

The group that won is the one on the bottom left corner, the one with the crazy horses. They're called the Blue Devils and they are a top corps. I didn't really get their show, because I was too distracted by the horse props. Why are there horses? Why are their outfits hanging on them? Are the horses supposed to be attacking each other? I'm so confused! <---the various thoughts running through my head the entire time.

My favorite show was by Santa Clara Vanguard. They had a starry night theme, as in Van Gogh. The color guard had different parts of the Starry Night painting on their outfits, and their flags also had different parts of the painting. At the end, their flags came together to recreate the painting. The music was beautiful too!

All in all a really fun day. We came home on Sunday and I relaxed and enjoyed some Olympics!

Hope you all had a great weekend! Linking up for YOLO Monday and Weekend Update!

What a week...

This started off as a very simple week. I took my cousin and his cousin (they're visiting from Puerto Rico) to the mall on Monday. Got some laminating and planning done. Quite boring really.

Then on Tuesday, I went to a training. Had no idea that when I got back from training I would discover some horrifying news. I am not going to go into detail, but it's news that shocked me to the core. Then Wednesday, the news got even worse. It's a terrible feeling when you realize you never knew a person you know?

So I'm definitely looking forward to this week's High Five for Friday. I'm a big believer in everything happens for a reason and that we need to look at the positives in life. Here goes! (Sorry there are no pictures; it's been a really hectic week around here!)

1. I guest posted over at Embracing the Everyday. Ashley's one of the first bloggers I actually interacted with when I started this whole she bang. It was a no brainer sponsoring her!

2. In more blog news, I have 58 followers. My blog is a month old! Never thought that many people would be interested in what I have to say. It's a nice feeling.

3. I got to have dinner and cupcakes with my best friend Nichole.  We went to Mellow Mushroom and had Cami Cakes. Cami Cakes is my favorite cupcake place in Jacksonville. They're so light and fluffy!

4. I finished my first three days of school lesson plans. Once those are down pat, the rest of the week is easy peasy!

5. While you're reading this, I am on my way to Atlanta (or possibly already there!) J and I will be going to a Braves game, going to a Drum Corps International competition and walking around downtown. I'm excited to spend the weekend with him! Oh and bonus points to anyone who knows what Drum Corps is!

Glad to see I was still able to find some positives in this crazy week! Don't forget to link up with Lauren over at  From My Grey Desk!

This girl loves shoes...

Not going to lie I've been a bit distracted the last 24 hours, so I almost forgot about Current Crush. When I saw that Danielle had canceled it, I was a bit relieved. But when I saw that Ashley and Rachel (two bloggers who have really welcomed me with open arms) agreed to take it on, I knew I had to post something.

My inspiration comes from the outfit I am planning to wear to my training. The focal point of the outfit is an old pair of yellow Nine West flats. So I am currently crushing on:

Bright Flats by nilda-albino featuring royal blue flats

Royal blue flat / H&M leather flat, $12 / Forever 21 bow flat / Madewell patent flat / Pink ballet flat, $16

I just started searching for bright flats at Polyvore and these are my favorites that came up. My absolute favorites are the mint ones. I think bright flats have the power to add punch to any outfit, especially simple ones. What I am wearing today will be a white tee, blue linen croppped pants, silver necklace, and my bright yellow flats. I'll try and post a picture later if I can.

Don't forget to link with Ashley or Rachel for Current Crush. Which pair do you like best?

In shock...

I can't explain why I am so stunned, because I don't want to add to everything that's already been put out there. Nothing's happened directly to me, but my mind is still in shock from some news I received earlier today. If the news is true, then it breaks my heart. If it's not true, then I feel for that person, because his life will never be the same. Either way, I feel for one of the people involved, because she is one of my nearest and dearest friends and she doesn't deserve this.

If you could send general positive thoughts to my friend, I would really appreciate it. I'm still just in shock.

First time!

Guest posting that is. Today I am over at Embracing the Everyday. Ashley's an awesome blogger and there are moments where I feel like we are the same person, even though she's younger than me and is a cute little blonde instead of a cute little brunette.

Go over and check out my post about my favorite quote. I'll be back tomorrow! Hope everyone is having a terrific Tuesday.

Three weeks left...

Three weeks left! That's it until I have to officially go back to work. This summer flew by, but I think I achieved my goal of having a healthy and fun summer break.

On Friday, J and I went to dinner at P.F. Changs. He received a $25 gift card for his birthday. We took full advantage of it!

J ordered Kung Pao Chicken:

I ordered the Honey Shrimp:

Both were really good, but I still prefer my Chinese place down the street, Fongs. :) We had leftovers, but unfortunately I did not get to enjoy mine. My brother ate my leftovers when he got home from work that night. Boo younger brothers with voracious appetites!

On Saturday, I went to the gym and then lounged around at home in the morning. I did paint my nails with this color:

Source

Essie's Turquoise and Caicos. It's such a fun color. I only wear funky colors on my nails during the summer. During the school year, I stick to neutrals a lot more.

I convinced J to get a haircut at my salon, with Lindsay my favorite hairstylist. In the past, I would have scoffed at paying 40 dollars for a haircut, shampoo and blowdry, but Lindsay listens really carefully to what you want. She also knows what works for my wavy/curly hair and what doesn't. J's had a string of bad luck with haircuts and since guys cuts are way cheaper he gave it a go. I don't have a picture (such a bad blogger), but I think it turned out great!

Yesterday, I went to St. Augustine with my family. My cousin is in town spending part of his summer with my uncle. He brought his cousin to keep him company. My mom and I took them all over St. Augustine, including the beach:

My cousin's cousin Johnathan, my uncle, my cousin, my mom and me at St. Augustine Beach.

We walked all over Downtown St. Augustine. We ate at the Florida Cracker Cafe, but I was bummed because they were out of gator tail. I love gator tail, especially fried gator tail.

I was exhausted when we came home and took a two hour nap. :) I'm going to miss those when school starts.

So that's my weekend.  Now I'm off to go pick up dry cleaning, laminate some things at the school store, and head to the library to hopefully plan my first week of school. Hope everyone has a fabulous Monday!


Linking up for Weekend Update and YOLO Mondays. :)

PS. Oh and all my thoughts and prayers go to the victims of the Aurora shootings. It's simply horrible that one would choose to commit that act.  Reminded me of how in April, a fired teacher brought an assault rifle onto the campus of one of Jacksonville's most prestigious private schools and killed the headmistress and then himself. No one should have to go through that.

Purse Obsessed

I told myself I wasn't going to link up today. That I would just write about my weekend later this afternoon, after I get back from St. Augustine. (LOVE THAT PLACE!) But then I saw that the Sunday Social over at A Complete Waste of Makeup was all about purses.

I'm a sucker for a cute purse. So of course that means I am a sucker for a link up about purse! Here goes!

Favorite handbag you've ever owned:

This would be the Coach Laura Signature Hobo in Pink and Blue. I've owned it for a little over two years and I LOVE IT. Doesn't hurt that it gets me a ton of compliments too. :)

Bag you lust over:

Source

 A Birkin bag. I know I will never own one. But I will lust over it for a really long time. :)

Daily essentials in your purse

• Wallet (duh!). Though I did feel like a total idiot the other day at the training center cafe because I had forgotten my wallet in my work bag. Had to run outside to my car and get it. :/
• Phone. Feel a bit lost if it's not in there. 
• PENS. Lots of pens. I lose pens. ALL THE TIME!
• Sanitizer and lotion. I teach little kids. Little kids who can be dirty. 'Nuff said. 
• Lip gloss. 
• Coin purse. Wallet's too small to hold all my change. 

What's in your purse:

 

(starting from the top and then left to right)

1.  I'm currently using this white NY and Company purse. It's spacious. Plus it was on sale! :)
2. I currently have a book, my wallet, pens (read above as to why), my keys and a change purse.
3. Like I said earlier, lip balm, lipgloss, sanitizer, and lotion are definitely essentials in my purse. The bigger lip gloss is a Clinique Chubby Stick in Mega Melon. It's the best lip balm I've ever tried (that's actually my opinion, Clinique did not give me anything to endorse it!). Go now and get one.
4. Purse organizer. I'm a bit of hoarder and things tend to get lost in my purse. Until I found this fabulous purse organizer from Charming Charlie. It has pockets on the outside and inside. It also keeps my floppy bag standing sturdy. Hopefully, whenever I switch purses it will ensure that nothing of importance gets lost.

There you have it! Nilda's purse. Does it say anything crazy about me? I hope not. :)

Don't forget to link up with Neely at A Complete Waste of Makeup for the Sunday Social. I'm curious to see what's in other people's purses.

Boo BN!

So, I love Barnes and Noble. I can go in just to POP in and end up staying hours. It's my favorite store by far (and I adore clothes!). I am a member, because the $25 dollars is worth it. Discounts and free shipping. Free express shipping? Score.

Well here's my rant:

I ordered an ESOL book. All of my firsties this year will be ESOL students. I want to know as much as possible. So I went to my favorite store and tried to find some books. But they were all so pricey. (Sidenote: Can I just say I find it ironic that teacher books are uber expensive? Do the publishers not realize we are not paid very well? Like I said, ironic.) I found a better alternative online.

I ordered it on Friday. It said it'd be delivered by Wednesday. I didn't get it until today. I know it's petty, but I wish I would've gotten sooner. Especially when I have two other books to read for school.

I do try to put positive spin on things so at least I got it before school starts right? Off to read it. I'd apologize for this post being boring, but I told myself that I would blog the comings and goings of my life.

Oh and here's another positive:

Looks like someone has a new toy. Weirdo cat that likes to play with cardboard. Love her. Even with the crazy eyes!

It's Friday!

I can actually celebrate that it's Friday. WAHOO! Which means today is the last day of my math training. (I'm crying on the inside...not!) It's been fantastic actually, and I'm not going to lie: I might actually miss the Hippie. She's come up with even more amazing sound bites, but I keep forgetting to write them down. My mission today: write down Hippie quotes!


Anywho, I am once again linking up for High Five for Friday with Lauren over at From My Grey Desk Blog. It's fun to really look back at what made the week special. So without further adieu:

 

1. SEASON TICKETS CAME IN! WAHOOOOOOOO! Having these babies makes my brother and me even MORE pumped for football. We are first time ticket owners. This year's tickets feature some of the more prominent Jags players, including my absolute fave:

POSLUSZNY!!! He's an awesome linebacker, plus cute in that big honking football player kind of way!

2. I got to spend time with my new principal yesterday afternoon. It was a bit overwhelming, simply because of how on top of EVERYTHING she is. She told me I'm going to be grade level chair and help mentor the newbie teachers on my team. It's a bit nerve-wracking but exciting just the same!

3.  Thanks to this math training, I no longer feel like this: 

 

Source: computerrouterss.blogspot.ca via Christine on Pinterest

4.  I indulged in some amazing cheesecake yesterday at the Cheesecake Factory. Friends of mine from my old school (still really weird to say!) met up and caught up about our summers so far. It was fun. Totally forgot to take picture but oh well. (Oh and the cheesecake was the Wild Blueberry and White Chocolate Mousse one. DELICIOUS!)


5. In one week, J and I will be driving to Atlanta for the weekend. 

Drum Corps International is having a big competetion there and we've decided to make it our mini summer vacay! Kudos to you if you know what DCI is; if not, don't worry about it. I didn't know what it was until I started dating J. :)

Hopefully we'll catch a Braves game. (I will not wear any Braves paraphernalia however; got to be loyal to the dad and bro, who are HUGE Mets fans.)

There you have it! My five favorite things from the week. Don't forget to link up!

 PS. The Olympics start in one week! YESSSSSSSSS! 
PPS. I know my font's all funky; but I'm too tired to fix it. Hope ya'll don't mind!

Polka Dots

I'm linking up with Danielle over at Framed Frosting for Current Crush Thursdays. This week's current crush isn't about fashion. My mind is SLOOOOOOOOOOWLY shifting towards school. I usually do a primary colored theme in my classroom:

I'm going to miss this classroom so much!

It's easy and fairly simple to keep up with. But this year, I'm putting a twist on it. I'm going to add  POLKA DOTS!

Polka dot classroom by nilda-albino on polyvore.com

I don;t want it to be TOO distracting, so I'm just going to add polka dot accents. Pictures one, two and three come from Erica Bohrer's classroom and Teachers Pay Teachers store. She's created awesome polka dot labels, signs, word cards, letters and a fun back to school board. Erica originally made them in bright neon colors, but she's making them in primary colors as well! Everything's reasonably priced and I don't mind supporting a fellow teacher!

Picture four: I do yellow fabric backgrounds on my bulletin boards, so I figured I'd use these fun polka dot borders to frame them. 

I'm really excited about this because A) it's fairly cheap! and B) it'll keep my classroom coordinated. I've never been able to go full out theme, like space or monkeys. It's too expensive!

So what do you think? Will the polka dots spice things up a bit? I hope so! Don't forget to link up!

Teachers are the WORST students...

It's true, believe it or not! But before I tell you why, I pose this problem to you:

Lydia and her sister love Ferris wheels. At the fair, there are two Ferris Wheels next to each other. Ferris wheel A is bigger than Ferris wheel B. Lydia gets on Ferris wheel A; her sister gets on Ferris wheel B. If it takes Ferris wheel A 50 seconds to complete one rotation, and Ferris wheel B 30 seconds to complete one rotation, how many seconds will go by before both girls meet at the bottom for the first time?

Here's what I wanted to say: Who cares? If Lydia's sister gets done before her, she can just wait patiently at the bottom of Ferris wheel A. Who would ride a Ferris wheel alone? Isn't part of the fun riding WITH someone? But I did not say those things. I did finally solve the problem, after many, MANY tries. Answer is down below. 

So as I was saying, teachers make the WORST students. I am in a number sense (you know, fractions, adding, subtracting, etc.) training all week. I always stumble on to the same type of people:

• The Know It All: This is the teacher who knows EVERYTHING about the subject at hand. Her classroom is absolutely perfect and there's no way she's changing how she does things. One question then: WHY ARE YOU TAKING THIS TRAINING? Obviously you don't know everything. Oh and I inevitably always end up at the same table with this person. Murphy's Law in action folks!
• The One Who Doesn't Know Anything But She's Been Teaching Awhile: These are the ones who ask the crazy questions which lead the facilitator on weird tangents, thus making us late for lunch. Now I don't mind asking a lot of questions; I just mind when the questions already been answered and you didn't know it, because you were too busy complaining to your friends about the topic. 
• The Hippie: She's the one who always has some philosophical answer for every question. She only gets annoying when she tries to continue to defend herself, even though the facilitator and the class have proved her wrong. For instance, the one in my class this week could not understand why 0 is an even number, because 0 means nothing and nothing is not even. It's universal. SAY WHAT??
• The Ones Who Are Just There To Better Their Teaching: I fall into this category. People in this category take notes, simply answer questions , and just listen. I'm not wasting a week of summer vacation to not learn anything. That's just dumb. There are quite a few of us in this class; I recognize them, because I am sure the exasperated look that is on their face when The Hippie or The Know It All answers a question is the same as the look on my face. 

I'm sure if you're in any class, you can find examples of the people above. :) On the positive side, the guy in charge of the training is fantastic; he's actually making it fun and enjoyable to learn about the theory of math. It's a miracle I tell ya!

Have you ever taken a class and met any of the characters above? Tell me about it!

PS. The answer is 150. I know you were dying to know, right?

Me, Myself and I

Today I'm doing this fabulous link up.

It's a way for people in this awesome bloggy world to get to know you. I've only been blogging for a weeks, but I have met some really phenomenal people. Some are just like me and others are not, but I love reading their blogs and getting to know them.

The ladies came up with some interesting questions, so here goes!

1. What is your biggest phobia? 

Source: 126.com.au via Laura on Pinterest

 So that picture might seem amazing to some, but to me it's terrifying. I have this phobia of lightening. It use to be A LOT worse, but I've got it mostly under control. (Seeing as how I live in a state that has daily thunderstorms from May to September!)   2. If you could relive any day of your life, what would it be and why? 

 My college graduation; if and only if my biological father doesn't choose that moment to surprise me and show up after not seeing me for ten years. He ruined that day for me and I would do anything to do it over and enjoy it. Instead of wanting to ball up and cry. (Whoaaaa, didn't think I'd get that personal that quickly!) 

3. If you could choose to stay a certain age forever, what age would it be? 

Now. I know who I am, my brother is not an annoying little snot, my parents respect me and who I've become and I'm enjoying life. :)

4. Which celebrity do you get mistaken for? 

Unfortunately, no one. It'd be kind of cool if I did though!

5. What songs are included on the soundtrack to your life?

(all of these videos were found on YouTube and do not belong to me)

  All At Once by The Fray

"Sometimes the hardest thing and the right thing are the same"

Extraordinary by Mandy Moore

"And now I'm ready to be extraordinary!"

Defying Gravity

"I'm through accepting limits, cause someone says there so, some things I cannot change, but till I try I'll never know" 

Those are my answers.

Hope they gave you some insight into little fascinating old me! 

Link up so I can get to know you! 

An Award!

Yesterday, Caitlin from A Day in The Life nominated me for the Liebster Award! The award is given to upcoming bloggers with less than 200 followers. Liebster is German and means sweetest, kindest, nicest, dearest, beloved, lovely, kind, pleasant, valued, cute, endearing, and welcome! Thanks Caitlin!!

Here's How It Works:

Each person must post 11 things about themselves.
Answer the questions that the tagger set for you and create 11 questions for bloggers you've tagged.
Choose up to 11 bloggers and link them in your post.
Go to their page and tell them.
No tag backs

Caitlin's questions are so fun. Here goes:



1. What do you do to relax?

I go to the library or a Barnes and Noble. Simply browsing through all the books definitely takes my stress away.


2. What are some of your hobbies?

My hobbies are reading and cooking. See the answer above. I love taking cooking classes and finding new recipes to make. Oh! I suppose blogging's a hobby too!


3. If you were stranded on a desert island and could only take 3 things with you, what would you take?
I'd take Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, a journal and a pen. :) (And pray that there is a river with fresh water on the island!)


4. What is your greatest accomplishment thus far?

Teaching for five years. Research has shown that most new teachers "drop out" before their fifth year. Last year was ROUGH, but I survived it and cannot wait to see what my sixth year has in store.


5. What was your favorite subject in school and why?

History. I particularly loved learning about World War II.


6. How would you describe your style?

Classic with a bit of whimsy. I took a quiz once and that's what it came up. I wear classic pieces but in bright colors. I also love fun jewelery.


7. If you could have any special talent (that you don't already have), what would it be?

I would love to be able to sing well. Something about having a good singing voice is special to me.


8. If you won the lottery, what would you spend the money on?

I'd pay off all my credit card debt (not that it's major but it would help!), my student loans and car. I'd then buy a house for myself and pay off my parents' house.


9. Name three people who have influenced you the most and why.

My mother: She's one of the strongest people I know. She raised me on her own the first four years of my life. After she got married, she moved to Florida, which was far away from all of her family. She's just an absolutely amazing person.

My dad: The man I call "Dad" is technically my stepdad. But he's just Dad to me. He married my mom and has taken care of us both since that moment. He's gruff and loud and doesn't always show how he cares. But he's loyal and protective and would do anything for my family.

JP: My younger brother has taught me a lot. He's taught me that there are plenty of times in your life where you just need to go with the flow. I've always felt a need to set a good example for him. He's also taught me a lot about loyalty.


10. What got you started in blogging?

I kept a Livejournal all through out college. Now it's neat to go back and read those entries. So I figured, why not do that now? Record things that are important in my life at this moment.


11. What is your favorite holiday & why?

That's easy: CHRISTMAS! I love the feeling I get when I hear a Christmas song for the first time during the season. I love seeing the decorations go up and spending time with family. It's just the best!

Here are my nominees:

Britt @ Yellow Umbrella

Holly @ Sunshine State of Mind

Rikki @ A Woman, Her Cat(s) and Some Books

Teresa @ Blonde Curlss

Ari @ Apples and Glue

Each blog is completely different from the others. I love to read them all! Here are my questions:

1.What is the best dessert you've ever had?

2. If you could travel to anywhere in the world, where it would be and why?

3. Who was your favorite teacher? Why was she/he your favorite?

4. What is your favorite color?

5. What is the one thing you couldn't live without?

6. What's the longest road trip you've ever been on?

7. How would you describe your style?

8. Who are you closest to in your family?

9.  Do you have any weird talents?

10. Do you prefer, flip-flops, flats, or heels?

11. Do you prefer cats or dogs? Why?

Can't wait to read your answers!

Weekend Update

The weekend's almost over. But Nilda, aren't you on summer vacation? Isn't EVERYDAY a weekend for you? Why yes, dear reader, I am on summer vacation. But all this week I am slated to go to a Common Core Math Standards training with a focus on number sense (don't leave non-teacher friends, I promise this post is interesting!). Which means that I have to wake up at 7:00 a.m. all week long. THE HORROR!

Ha, just kidding. Not gonna lie, I'm looking forward to this training. I love the people that are giving it, so it should be a good time. On to my weekend recap:

Saturday
Yesterday morning, I woke up and went to the gym. Not only did I do my strength workout without crapping out, I also ran on the treadmill for 15 minutes and did this Pinterest workout three times:

Source: hipbonesandflatstomachs.tumblr.com via Nilda on Pinterest

I was definitely sweating up a storm by the end of it!

Later that afternoon, I went to my friend's birthday BBQ. It was fun and I got to see a few my co-workers from my old school. Plus the food was delicious!

Today
I had ALL intentions of going to the gym this morning. But I've been really diligent about going all week and it was raining when I woke up, so I chose not to go. Don't worry; my gym bag is already packed in my car. I'm planing on going to workout right after my training.

J and I decided to meet up for some lunch. I chose to wear my favorite dress because a) this summer weather is killing! and b) I wanted to look cute.

Dress is an old Forever 21 dress and shoes are old Madden Girl.

 I love the print of this dress. I can't help but feel cute and happy when I wear it!

After lunch, J and I went shopping for new shoes for him. I'm his personal stylist, so he can't seem to buy anything fashion wise without me. :) We found some great deals at Famous Footwear:

Skechers Trojo Shoes

Croc's Modi Flip Espresso

The top pair he bought because he has a similar pair but in white. He wanted a darker pair and I really liked these gray ones. J's been wanting a pair of flip flops and he got  really excited when we found this pair of brown Crocs flip flops. I approved, because they are ten times nicer looking than his beat up blue crocs! He spent fifty bucks total, because Famous Footwear was having a Buy One Get One 1/2 sale. Being the shoe lover  that I am, I was very very jealous!

All in all, it was a great weekend. Now I'm home. I'm going to ATTEMPT to go to bed at 10:00; I'll let you guys know if I was successful or not! Hope you all had fabulous weekends.

PS. Caitlin over at A Day in the Life nominated me for a Liebster Award. I'll post her questions and my nominees tomorrow. Meanwhile, go check her out!

Oh and linkin' up for YOLO Mondays and Weekend Update!