My Best Friend's Wedding

As if planning one wedding weren't enough my best friend Meghan (yea, my cupid!) got engaged Friday night. She called me soon after and I don't think I could be more excited for two people to get married (yea, I know, besides me & Blake). She doesn't have a date just yet but we're looking at a possible beach wedding this summer (which would be just beautiful and amazing!) and I'm stoked!

She's totally already on the ball whereas I've fallen off and I'm still trying to get the ball balanced to I can get back on. I'm so excited to help her plan this wedding and to be a part... seeeeee:

So I guess it's a good thing that we only have 9.5 days left of school because it's going to be one BUSY summer : D

Surprise Shower

At one of our last Girl Scout meetings for the year I got an awesome surprise... a bridal shower! I was shocked. I'm so on top of things and always very observant that it's REALLY hard to surprise me. (Now looking back I see the signs but I guess I wanted to be surprised!)

I've only ever truly been surprised twice... when Blake proposed and this shower. All the other times I've "accidentally" found out about said surprise. I guess it's easy when your mind is running in 1,000 different directions.

So I walk in with Wanda, the leader, and the girls are all there hiding behind a table. My girls mean the world to me. I so enjoy working with them and I can only hope they get a little from me. They've been good practice for me teaching but more importantly I'm hoping to pass on what I learned in Scouting to them. They had all the fixings that go with a shower and we even made toliet paper dresses. I had a blast and I'm sure they did too. I love my girls!

A New Addition

Hi! My name is Lilly.

As if we weren't already busy enough we adopted a new puppy. Her name is Lilly and right now she is 7 weeks old. We picked her out when she was 3 weeks old then had to wait another 3 until she was ready to leave her furry mommy. She's a Shih Poo and we love her. (By "we" I mean Blake & I... Paisley isn't too fond of her yet.) She'll grow to be about 10 pounds and will be a great companion for Paisley once he gets over his jealousness and learns how to play.

So now we have a Ring Dog & a Flower Dog. Our Furry Family is complete... for now :)

EOG Week

Ohhh thank goodness they'll be over at the end of this week! As much as I hate to say it, it's almost impossible not to "teach to the test." So much rides on those stinking tests that it's all we can do to not pass that stress on to our students.

I remember taking the End of Grade tests when I was in school but it was really no big deal. Yes the tests measured how much we had grown since the previous year but they didn't keep us from passing or failing nor did they measure how "good" your  teacher was.

As a first year teacher I am terrified. I have faith that my kids will do well but there's that little bit of chance and unknown (I mean, since I can't simply TELL them to cricle B instead of D... or give those little hints) that have me nervous. There are a few students that I'm really worried about so they'll get special prayers.

I wrote notes to each one of my students telling them how well I think they'll do on their tests. They'll get these Monday before tests start on Tuesday. And as an added incentive, we've promised that all the Level 3s & 4s will get to throw water balloons at their teachers. Hopefully that will encourage some to take their time and find the BEST answer.

5 Months

This past weekend we hit the halfway point. We're halfway through our engagement and halfway there to our wedding. I wasn't so worried in April when we hit the 6 month mark but now that there's only 5 months left until our wedding... ahh!

We have so much left to do and it's intimidating. I've been so wrapped up in finishing up the semester at ECU & my first year teaching (which I've ALMOST survived!) that wedding is pretty low on the totem pole.

This month I expect a lot of accomplishments...
- Bridal Portraits on the 17th
- Getting my gown back from alterations
- Seeing my personally-made veil for the first time!
- Bridal jewelry
- Invitations
- Having engagement pictures printed & framed

And more that I can't think of. On top of this our condo is getting a complete overhaul. It's been fine since Richard & I moved in but I'm ready for a "grown up" house. New furniture, cabinets, paint, countertops, appliances, and carpet are in the works. I've got it all picked out I just need some time off school to do it!