Cake Decorating Graduation :-)

It's soooo cold here in Atlanta! The high is in the 30s today! I might get out of work tomorrow...40% chance of snow tonight! Woo hoo! I'd love to be able to stay home and watch the whole innaguration tomorrow, instead of just the swearing in with my kids :-)

I finished the 2nd class of Wilton Cake decorating. I loved it! Here's my "graduation" cake :-) We have been working on the flowers throughout the 4 classes. I'm so excited w/ how it turned out! I was going to start the next course tonight, but I've decided to put it off a a little bit! It's the gum paste course and the starting supplies were going to cost a hundred dollars! So...since I haven't been paid since December 19th...ugh...plz end of month get here!!!, I decided to hold off for a bit. I also want to concentrate on going to the gym for awhile.

I had my first wellness coach appt last week. I'm sooo impressed with the YMCA! I meet with the coach once a month for the first 6 months. She got me started on a plan, targeting areas that I wanted and she'll adjust it when she meets with me again :-) Love the little computer system they have going! You sign in your code and it tells you what weight you lifted last time, what to adjust the foot/seat to, etc. I love that it has a little bar that goes up and down with your reps. That way...if you cheat and don't go all the way to the top and to the bottom, the rep doesn't count :-) He he...And of course I would never try to cheat.....

Well, I'm off to grade papers :-) Hopefully, I'll be playing in the snow tomorrow! xoxo, Jill

New Years Resolutions

Usually I think that making a new years resolution is a crock, just an excuse to indulge in vices at the end of year. However, I've decided to make a few myself this year. No...not the cliched working out one (though I do plan to do that..thanx for the YMCA tip Stacie). My new years resolution is to spend more quiet time with myself and leisurely activities. I feel like I flew through college w/o appreciating much, then was so busy moving 2000 miles from home and getting used to GA, then trying to survive my first couple years teaching, and finally almost went insane doing grad school and teaching. I feel it's finally time to slow down. I resolve to start writing again. I used to love writing stories, poems, and in a journal every night. I don't remember the last time I sat down to write for fun, instead of a school assignment. I resolve to spend quiet time knitting and sewing. I resolve to spend time playing my wii, which I completely enjoy, but never seem to make enough time to do. And finally, I resolve to work on some puzzles during the year. I haven't put together a puzzle in 20 years and I worked on one in California with my family. It was so nice to just relax and do a quiet activity. I've never been a person that enjoys life unless there's a million things going on at once and I'm stretched competely thin. So, Happy New Year, and here is to some quiet leisurely time!
xoxo, Jill

Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! I've had a wonderful time in California over the last 2 weeks! It has been so nice visiting with my family and friends.

Had a little Christmas gathering on the 23rd at my dad's.I made a roast and we played games :-)

Ironically, Dad had Christmas off this year, but Amy had to go to work! But she didn't go in until 3:30, so we had a nice family time before. Daddy and I headed to Katie, Jason, and Amy's apt around 12 (our fam. now gets started late...no 4 am mornings like when we were kids!). We ate, opened gifts, played new games, ate some more, and just relaxed!

My friends and I had decided to have a quiet New Years this year. What we didn't anticipate was having to hike up and down Haskell Cyn Rd for an hour in the dark! OMG...Jess left her purse on top of the car when we left the grocery store. We discovered it 20 minutes later, raced back to the store, searched the parking lot, and found nothing. Luckily, there are still some nice people in the world and a couple driving down Haskell saw it on the side of the road and picked it up. Jess's phone number was on her checks, so we got it back. Unfortunately, it was a bit windy and her drivers license, social security card, 4 credit cards, her inhalers, and a bunch of receipts had blown away. So....in my little black heels, cute jeans, and little pink shirt...I walked up and down Haskell Cyn Rd. with Jessica and Audra searching the streets for missing items. We walked up and down for an hour..but....I found her drivers license and social security card! So...it was well worth looking like a hooker on New Years Eve. The rest of the evening was uneventful. We all went back to dad's and ate and played wii until about midnight (btw JESSICA...I did not cheat during Smarty Pants :-)

I'm looking forward to the new year. But I enter 2009 with a heavy heart. Katie is not doing well. She wasn't able to leave the house since I got here and is almost always on oxygen. She needs a new pair of lungs. Please pray that lungs will become available soon....

A couple more days and I'll be home. I miss Shawn and my doggies!! Happy New Years friends! xoxo, Jill

Crazy School and Start of Vacation!!

Hey everybody! Sorry I havn't written in awhile. It seems like life has been so busy!

My friend Amanda had her annual tacky Christmas sweater party last weekend! I think our sweaters this year totally outdid last years!!

I'm teaching my fave unit right now at work: The causes of the American Revolution. The kids and I are having a blast. Everyday they put on their colonial hats and turn into colonists. They each get an assigned part for the day, like colonist, British Soldier, or King George, etc. I've been showing them how it feels to be taxed without representation! I gave them them each a bag of m&ms and have been making them pay taxes to me...on their desk, chair, textbooks, bathroom usage, paper. Oh, it's sooo funny seeing how upset they get. They played right into my plan again this year and started to boycott my paper and stage little demonstrations!! How cute!

Next, we staged our own Boston Tea Party!

I flew into California on Saturday...here for 2 glorious weeks!! I'm having a fabulous time!! It was a fun (yeah right) time getting here! My first plane was like a sardine. Two seats on each side! I seriously thought, "OMG...I'm going to die in this thing!!" I was in the very back row....of course! The bathroom was right across the aisle. People watching at the bathroom is HILARIOUS. First, I watched the people trying to get into the bathroom...push...pull...shove. Then apparently most people don't understand the definition of "occupied" or "vacant." So they all knocked or called through the door. "Anyone in there?" Finally, they got in the bathroom, but it was so small, most of them tripped while getting in and out. But the worst thing about the flight was that the bathroom smelled soooo bad everytime it was opened and some people left it open after leaving! Anyways, my flight was half and hour late and I had to sprint across the entire Houston airport to catch the next flight. Very annoying! I ran past some super cute stores on the way too!

My sis has andorable new kitten. He's three months old. Too cute!

My girfriends and I decided to out to a nice dinner together instead of exchanging gifts. We had such a wondeful time last night. I've known all of them since junior high!! They're more like my sisters than friends. We went to The Odyssey, about 20 minutes away from Santa Clarita. It had a spetacular view of the valley!

I'm having a little get together at my dad's tomorrow night. Making a roast and friends are bringing sides. I'll post pics soon! xoxo, Jill

Mini Vacation!

4th day off from work! One more day to go! Sweet! I started my mini vacation last Wednesday at one of my favorite places...the hair salon! There are so many little joys at the salon...the anticipation of a new fabulous do, the massage when they rinse your hair (I taught Shawn how to do this!!), the warm dryer over your cold hair...anyways...I absolutely love my cut and color. Check out pics down below!

I baked up a storm Wednesday night. Actually, I baked up to much of a storm..I was up until 2 baking! As usual, when I go out, I go alllllllllll the way out and took on a little too much. After I baked 3 (yes 3!) cakes, I ended up decorating only 1 of them. It took a good 3 hours..I make the icing from scratch. But, I was very happy w/ the result...I think it turned out super cute! I didn't have the pattern for the turkeys so I had to modify (ooohhh Shawn would be so proud!). I stuck toothpicks through a big and mini marshmellow and attached it to the side of the cake and then covered them with brown icing. They were actually supposed to have little orange feet and beaks and little feathers...but I very much ran out of steam at 2am! The cake made it to dinner pretty okay...only one turkey lost his head somewhere...he he he...Shawn may find a chocolate marshmellow somewhere under the seat this week. Oh can you imagine his expression!!!

I had a fantastic Thanksgiving with Shawn and his family! We arrived at 4:15 (yes, an hour and 15 minutes late because of me...explanation below). Shawn's sister, Stacie, was able to come up from Orlando and his grandmother is living with his parents so we had a full table. I found out that I actually like squash! Especially when it has cinnamon and marshmellows on top :-) We ate and then all went into turkey comas! I almost fell asleep on their couch!

I've been getting horrible migraines the last 6 or 7 days. I'm changing over some medication and I think that might have something to do with it...So, I did oversleep on my nap on Thanksgiving!

Shawn and I spent a wonderful day together. We went down to Atlantic Station at 9:30 this morning and went to two exhibits: In the Dark and Bodies. We started at In the Dark. It was wild! You have to put all your stuff in lockers and then they give you a cane. You are put in groups of 10 and you have a guide throughout the experience. You walked through different rooms in complete darkness!! And I mean COMPLETE darkness..you can't even see your hand in front of your face. You have to feel around, using all your other senses, and discover where you are. It was absolutely amazing to feel so alone and be so unsure of where you are. It's really supposed to help you imagine what it's like for a visually impaired person and our guide, we found out, is actually blind. At the end, you sit with her and ask questions and discuss the experience. I highly recommend this! Then we went on to the Bodies exhibit. Many of my friends and fam expressed their distaste for this exhibit, but I found it fascinating. I recognized so many of the names of the parts of the body because of my horrible biology and anatomy/physiology classes, but this really broke down everything and let you see the parts individually. Some super cool parts....all the arteries and veins highlighted in the body. Dye was put in them and that was what stood out. The display featuring the central nervous system. It was amazing seeing the layout and how they are all connected. I also really like the female anatomy section. Yes, I suppose I should know all this...but I didn't really know how some of my parts were shaped and how small they actually are. Seeing a heart, with all the chambers and ventricles was awesome too!

We continued our date day at the Atlantic Grille. We were trying to go somewhere we hadn't been. Ugh...it was Southern bar food. TIG! They love damn "bar food" here! Finally, we did a little shopping :-) It was a great spending time with my sweetie :-) xoxo, Jill

The Wilton Rose!

Cake decorating class was so much fun yesterday. The other two girls in my class showed up 20 minutes late, so I got for my own private lesson for awhile! The roses were pretty difficult, but I'm proud of my first attempt! This was the end of course one, but I'm starting course two next Monday :-) I'm attempting a cute Thanksgiving cake project tomorrow. I'll update w/ pics! Hopefully they'll turn out! xoxo, Jill

odds and ends....

I took a sewing class at Joannes on Saturday morning! It was sewing 101 so obviously very basic!! And basic is what I needed, considering I had never even sat down at a sewing machine, let alone use one. There were 8 women in my class. I was 2nd to youngest...the youngest was a little 16 year old that made me laugh...guess what she wants to be when she grows up? A fashion designer...I swear that every 16 year old girl seems to want to be a fashion designer. Products of growing up on Project Runway?? :-) Anyways, everyone had a machine except me, but they had one you were able to check out. We learned the basic functions of the machine and then we had to practice sewing a seam. Of course I had to pick out the adorable doggy fabric! Everyone else had boring solid colors...ugh! Then we learned how to turn...but oops...I went right off the end of the fabric before I pivoted. I got "stuck" twice and the intructor had to pull the mound of fabric out that was under. She thought it was the machine since they often get beat up in class. However, I s.ecretly suspect it was my lack of sewing finesse. :-) So, we just practiced a bunch of stitches, cutting out patterns, etc. Then she gave us a tour of the fabric section and looked at good beginner patterns etc and what kind of fabric is for what. Guess what! I can make some totally cute handbags and the instructor says they're even good to start with since they don't have to be fitted! Woo Hoo! I'm soooo going to learn to sew now! Shawn was so cute. He picked me up from the class and before I'd even finished telling him about the class, he told me he'd already looked up sewing machines on craigs list for me. What a sweetie!
I truly feel like I have the greatest job in the world!! I don't know how many other people get the satisfaction of looking at someone, explaining something, and seeing the realization of understanding hit their eyes. I spent 15 minutes going over the greenhouse effect last week. Well, on several worksheets later that day, in regard to the question, "Explain the greenhouse effect," I got answers like, "You grow things in it." Hmmm...obviously not my best moment. So I reflected and tried again. I brought an apple, wax paper, and my hair dryer. I told them apple was Earth, the wax paper was the atmosphere (I wrapped the apple) and then we talked about being able to get through the atmosphere. We poked holes in the paper to demonstrate this and then I created heat from the sun...my hairdrying. I had kids put their hand under the "atmosphere" at and find out if it was warm...if the heat was "trapped" in the atmosphere. And THEY GOT IT! Seeing the light go off and the understanding in their eyes as they explained the greenhouse effect is the most awesome feeling!



Today, I got branded "the coolest teacher ever" as we were talking about different types of clouds. Per the pic, you'll see why. Woo hoo...shaving cream clouds! :-)

I absolutely am in love with the book series, "Twilight!" Shawn took me to see the movie this weekend. OMG...I loved it!!! My teacher ergirlfriends and I all talked about it today. Shawn got a little jealous of my obsessive talking about Edward (the main male character) on the way home and I had to assure him that it was just a book character and I loved him (being Shawn) the most :-) I totally want to see the movie again..so girlfriends...if any of you want to see it, I'm totally there!! But wow, did I feel old there! These teenagers seeing looked like they were 10! And right when I think I'm in a totally cute outfit, I see them and realize that my totally cute outfit is SO adult looking!



I'm about to take down my fall decorating to change to Christmas. Here are some pics of my fall theme. I can't believe I'm about to decorate for Christmas!!

I have to recommend an awesome movie I saw this weekend. Shawn had recommended it and to be honest, the first 5 minutes, I was like, "WTH is this?" It turned out to be absolutely amazing and I am so looking forward to watching it again. It's called V for Vendetta and I won't give away everything, but it calls out sooo much of how I feel about people and the world. It's set in London in the near future and in the city, a "moral and just" gov't has been created, where they have ALL encompassing power over people's civil liberties and rights. Gay people are hunted down, jailed, and experimented on. The news is completely contolled by the gov't. People cannot choose what tv programs or music to watch. There is no such thing as free speech or freedom of religion. It was such a sad commentary on the world and it is something I fear so much because of right wing fundamentalists. In the movie, there is a beautiful love story told about 2 women. For 3 years, they had roses, then the gov't imprisoned and murdered them for being "morally corupt." Anyways, as the story unfolds, the main character opens her eyes and realizes what a horrible world the "good, moral" people have created, with the help of a masked character. It's a wonderful movie and if you get a chance to see it, I'd highly recommend it. But if it affects you as it did me, have kleenex next to you.

I am off to cake decorating class. I'll post pics of my masterpiece later!! xoxo, Jill