With all good intentions, I set out on the Thankful November challenge.
I mapped out what I'd share each day. Then life happened...and I really shared maybe half of what I planned to.
So, here's the rest:
Day 13: Kids. I am thankful for my niece, nephews, and friends' kids. I'd love to have my own some day. In the mean time, thanks friends and family for procreating and letting me snuggle your kiddos. I will still pass on the diaper changing offers.
Day 14: Snack sized treats. Especially when I can get them on sale after Halloween.
Day 15: Harry Potter universe and specifically the house of Ravenclaw. It's a part of my childhood. I embrace my sass.
Day 16: My in-laws. They're generous and loving. I appreciate them.
Day 17: Younique make up. It covers my imperfections and lasts ALL day.
Day 19: Dr. Teal's Bubble Bath. It creates great foam bubbles and the large bottles are only $5. Plus they're available at Target.
Day 20: The dollar spot at Target. Okay, it's more like the $3 spot, but still. I found these cute cards for my students:
Day 21: Okay, Target in general. I do my grocery shopping there. A bulk of my teacher wardrobe comes from there. I find most of our house decor from there. It's my happy place.
Day 22: Mr. Sketch Markers. These are my go to markers for making anchor charts. I don't share them with students. I'm not ashamed of this choice.
Day 23: Candles. Specifically the {DW} brand I've found recently at Marshalls & TJ Maxx. They are extremely fragrant and the scent lasts the entire duration of the candle. Sometimes some candle brands are fragrant for the first or second use, but then lose their scent. Not these! They come in pretty jars and have pineapple scented ones.
Day 24: My students. Fifth grade was wonderful, but I'm really loving third grade. There are less students, which means I can better reach each of their individual needs. They are still little kids and with that comes a sweet innocence. They all believe in Santa. They believe they can be anything they want. They aren't jaded or hormonal and still love learning.
Day 25: Best friends.
Day 26: Craft time. Especially when other people are paying for the materials.
Day 27: Sunshine Committee. I am in charge of showers (baby & wedding ones) at work. I get to decorate and make things pretty.
Day 28: Naps.
Day 29: Girls Nights. Sometimes we get dressed up and go out dancing. Sometimes we go to dinner and a movie. Sometimes we paint and drink wine. Sometimes we make gingerbread houses:
Day 30: Second chances. I didn't do so well with following through on the November challenge. Luckily December started and with it, Elf on the Shelf (for the classroom).
day twelve: Takeya Water Bottle (Costco)
This is my new favorite:
It keeps my water cold all day long. More importantly, the ice doesn't melt all day. As a teacher in a rather warm climate, that's super important.
These water bottles are at Costco in a 2 pack for under thirty bucks. The hubbers snatched the navy one, but I'm fine with shiny silver. My student teacher said she'd vinyl my name on the side (which is great because several of my teacher friends have the same one).
eleven: My husband
A year in, that still feels weird to say.
He makes every day better. He's not perfect, but neither am I. He's my favorite person to tackle all of life's adventures with, whether it's navigating the grocery store right before a holiday, tackling home improvement projects, or frantically finishing a show on Netflix before it goes off line, I'm grateful for my rock.
He helps me laugh at things and not take everything so seriously. He's truly the opposite of me in so many important (balancing) ways, but at the end of the day, we agree on what matters.
He doesn't complete me. I am complete as a person. Instead, he compliments me and challenges me to be the best version of myself. He comforts me when I need it, encourages me always, and lets me know (politely) when he thinks I'm wrong (on the rare occasion it happens).
I'm thankful for a friend's birthday party that brought us together. I'm thankful for the relationship we've built together over the past (almost) five years. I'm thankful we got through the first year of marriage! I'm thankful that the adventure continues and the best is yet to come.
ten: my pets (and by default, adoption rescues)
After I earned my masters degree, I adopted my two cats (Chloe and Crookshanks). I went in for one (Chloe) after seeing her picture on adoption websites, but after seeing her curled up with her sister, I couldn't leave one behind.
So, I adopted both. This is my greatest buy one, get one for half price deal ever. (It was $150 for one or $200 for both to cover vet bills, fostering, vaccines, and a donation to the no kill animal shelter.)
(I adopted the cats from Happy Home Animal Sanctuary, one of the Petsmart charity shelters.)
Flash forward several years and I found myself purchasing a home with my (now) husband. Now that we had a yard, we wanted to expand our family by four paws. We were looking at one puppy in California, but couldn't justify the drive when there were so many adoptable pets here. We decided to adopt over the summer so I could be home to supervise the cats and puppy interactions as well as crate train.
We looked online, found a baby girl mutt that we wanted to meet, and headed out to Petsmart one Saturday morning. It was love at first sight and we left with our new pup (Waffles) that day.
While they cause me great headaches some days, I couldn't imagine life without my three fur babies. I am thankful not only for the opportunity to own pets, but that adoption rescues were an option. #adoptdon'tshop
nine: cardigans.
It might seem silly, but I am super grateful for cardigans. They turn any top into teacher appropriate attire and add an extra layer of coziness. I can toss one over a plain shirt and jeans, but look instantly dressed up...or at least, dressier.
I don't like full coats (which is good because I live in a warm climate where they aren't necessary), but cardigans are just enough coverage for my arms on chilly mornings.
Target's Merona brand is my favorite, but since there are retirement rumors (say it isn't so!), I've got to find a new inexpensive brand to love. Lularoe has a long cardigan with pockets, but I refuse to pay full price ($70) for one. I've snagged a long gray one, but for half off (because that's more budget friendly).
However, I can't just buy Lularoe, so any suggestions blogging world?
eight: grade level teams
In teaching, there is simply never enough time to accomplish everything. This is the sad, unfortunate reality. However, grade level teams can make things better and for them, I am thankful.
This year, my work wife Ms. H and I are planning reading for the grade level. Not everyone uses our plans or copies, but that's okay. Two other teachers plan/copy math while 2 more tackle writing. It's nice to share the work load and bounce ideas off one another.
I'm also thankful that my work wife understands that unfortunately, sometimes this planning needs to happen outside of contract hours. Tomorrow, on the day before Thanksgiving, we have a lunch date at Panera to crank out the next few weeks worth of reading plans.
Beyond having other people to plan with and share the copying fun, it's nice to have a team where we can share ideas and strategies. We are within a few days of each other in terms of plans, so it's nice to be able to give one another a heads up about what math lessons the kids struggle with or share strategies that really seemed to click for students.
As an added bonus, 4 of the 7 third grade teachers are in my pod, which means help is literally right next door. I am thankful for grade level teams.
seven: raspberry green tea lemonades
I'm trying to reduce my soda addiction and drink more water. However, I fully admit I have a weakness for Starbucks' raspberry green tea lemonades.
I discovered this gem by accident when the barista told me they were out of peach flavoring, thus rendering my staple peach green tea lemonade impossible. Not just out for the day, but that Starbucks had stopped carrying peach syrup. (I since learned that this is not true, thank goodness!) He offered to swap in raspberry flavoring and ya know what, it was even better than my go to PGTL.
This by no means can be an every day indulgence, but when I do find myself with a Starbucks gift card, this is my new favorite drink. (Unless it's December, in which case, I'm a sucker for peppermint hot chocolate!)
six: Rick Riordan
While no author will ever replace J.K. Rowling, Rick Riordan is coming in at a close second. Not only have his books been on the NY Times Best Seller List for the past nine years (yes, years), they are highly engaging for my students. As an adult, I find humor in his writing style and despite not being the target demographic, still enjoy the stories.
He tends to publish two books a year (May and October), so I'm savoring this one:
It will be a few months before I can get my hands on the next one.
Eighteen: Lofthouse Cookies
Before you laugh, let me explain:
Yes, they are delicious. Yes, I could eat several in one sitting (but don't). Yes, they have different colored frosting depending on the season. Yes, I think the pink ones are the best.
I'm thankful for them because they are made in a nut and peanut free factory.
As a teacher, this phrase means that I can safely pass them out to my students at class parties without fear. Not all my students with nut allergies have an epi-pen (or similar medication) at school. This is one of the safe foods that I know I can buy at the grocery store and pass out to my students without fear of a nut/peanut allergy situation.
(None of my students have reported gluten allergies.)
Thankful November post five: craft time
When I'm not teaching, grading, lesson planning, or any of the other tasks that accompany the whole teacher role, I like to spend my time crafting.
I'm grateful that I have this creative outlet. I'm also grateful that I have friends who want me to craft for them. Not only do I get to make others happy, I get to craft for free (because they cover the cost of materials).
Here's my latest creation:
It's for my assistant principal.
I started with the plain layer, then wove in solid red and chevron. The flowers came next and the double layer bow was last.
I've had a few other coworkers approach me about making them wreaths as well. I'll happily craft them, with enough notice.
Four: Chewy.com
While it might seem silly, I am super grateful for Chewy.com. One of my cats has stage one kidney failure. She's been in stage one for a year and a half. Her numbers are stable, thanks in a large part to the prescription vet food diet.
Our vet is only a few miles away, but it's easier to just order her pet food online. It's slightly cheaper, comes right to my door, and if I spend over $49, my order ships for free.
Plus they have a clearance section, so I'm able to order a few treats for the pup at half-off.
Chewy boxes being delivered are quite the exciting event in our house!
As a side note, she is thoroughly enjoying her bone this morning! Thank you Chewy for your prompt deliveries, sale prices, and that I didn't have to change from pajamas to purchase cat food. Winning all around!
Thankful November Three: Professional Development
Over the years, I have been fortunate enough to attend some amazing professional development courses.
In late October, I signed up for an all-day Saturday conference. To be honest, my primary motivators were:
1) It was close. It's hard to say no to something that is literally five minutes from your doorstep.
2) My husband was out golfing anyway.
3)
It was paid. I have very few opportunities within the school district
to make extra money. With the holidays coming and a growing desire to
redo our master bathroom floors, I'll take almost any opportunity I can
get.
4) It was on a topic I found appealing: bringing joy and the arts into the classroom.
5) Several of my colleagues were going, so I knew other people. (Yes, not being in a room with strangers is a concern.)
The
timing wasn't the best because the night before was my school's
carnival and haunted house. I was definitely tired, but caffeine helps
(as does the five minute drive).
Our keynote speaker was engaging and we got a copy of his book:
I'm
super appreciative of free things. I also am really enjoying reading
it (which isn't always the case with some teacher books). It has a lot
of space to reflect upon my own teaching and is meant to be read at a
slow pace (1-2 chapters per week) over the course of a school year (or
season as the author calls them). The focus is on finding joys and
empowering others to do the same (or at least that's the focus of the
first few chapters).
After
the keynote, we had 4 sessions and a wide range of topics to pick
from. I enjoy PD sessions that offer this choice and freedom.
The
first session I went to focused on math fact fluency and how to take
the pressure of off kids when working on the memorization of math
facts. I was also super excited to see a former colleague and friend as
one of the instructors.
We snagged this freebie:
Which
is full of all sorts of math games. I haven't started using it yet but
will! (I just haven't found the time to start making the card stock
copies or gathering the supplies.)
I
was fortunate enough to get into the highly coveted reading one before
lunch, but it was a bit of a let down only because there was no new
information. All of the strategies that were discussed I'd previously
learned in other professional development courses and was already using
in my classroom. I did snag a free book out of the training.
After
a lunch break, I joined some fellow teachers from my school to attend a
counseling-based session that focused on helping kids cope with
anxiety. The instructor modeled some interesting lessons and we walked
away with another freebie.
The fourth session was by far my least favorite.
Overall,
it was a successful day, I was home by 4 pm, learned some new
strategies, received several new books, and was paid for attending.
These are the types of professional developments that I appreciate.
Thankful November two: Student Teachers
This year I have the privilege of having student teachers from BYU Idaho. It's my first time having student teachers and it's definitely been a learning moment. For me, I'm learning how to give constructive feedback in smaller, bite-sized chunks. I'm working on letting go of control in my classroom to step back and let someone else take the lead.
It's beyond exciting to see how much they've grown. I get to bask in their enthusiasm, try new things, and watch them flourish. My students have the opportunity to provide feedback to their teachers and are benefiting from two adults in the room.
I am so thankful for this opportunity to work with new teachers and to challenge myself as an educator.
Thankful November post one: my students' parents
I operate with the mindset that every parent truly means well and wants what is best for the kiddo. While the parent group may be frustrating at times, when I step back and remind myself that I am with their precious baby for seven hours a day, it's a little easier to deal with when I re-frame my mindset to one that emphasizes they are doing what they think is best (instead of thinking they are doing X, Y, and Z on purpose to irritate me).
Last Thursday, we threw a surprise party for our student teacher. It was her last day in our (general education) classroom before she transitioned to student teaching in the resource (special education) setting. I must say, it's tricky to plan a surprise party when someone is with you all day long! I kept finding excuses to send her on quick errands so the kiddos and I could discuss the party in five minute increments.
I sent home a letter to families explaining our advice book and asking for some donations to our surprise party.
I was blown away by the sheer amount of goodies we received. I didn't have to buy a single snack supply (and for that, I'm grateful).
My students wrote wonderful, heart-felt letters to our student teacher. I glued them into a hard cover book. Students took the time at the party to share their favorite lessons with her and what they'd learned from her. There were a lot of tears all around and it was a bittersweet moment. She's off to a great start in her teaching career.
Parents shared on class dojo how much they appreciated her and their own fond memories of student teachers in elementary school. I was humbled by their generosity in gifting supplies for our party.
We had quite the feast and yet, still had left overs. We had a welcoming party for our new student teacher on Monday. (She'd completed the first half of her student teaching in the autism room.) We had even more donations come in for our fall celebration (because I have students who don't celebrate Halloween).
The kiddos had 3 bags of chips, 3 capri suns, cookies, and more yesterday. I still have boxes of drinks and unopened snack bags of chips. I guess we'll be having a reading picnic soon!
(Yes, I did also thank them on class dojo as well as in person. I know many of them do not read this blog.)
September and October have passed without any major hiccups. As November sets in, the month ushers in parent teacher conferences, my 1 year anniversary, Thanksgiving, and a slew of days off.
It also sets up the thankful challenge, where participants (like myself) are tasked with focusing on one positive thing each day to be thankful for.
It's easy to be cynical. It's easy to complain. It's easy to whine about the amount of work that goes into each parent teacher conference, how difficult it is to attend a 7:22 morning meeting the day after Halloween, or vent about how difficult the students can be the day after a major holiday. That's the easy path, the one where you've marinated in grumpy feelings and are ready to share them with the world.
Let's focus on another choice: being positive.
Yes, being positive is a choice. At times, it takes a lot of mental toughness and energy. At other times, it feels damn near impossible but it is still a choice. Being positive doesn't mean life is perfect (and often times, far from it). Being positive and participating in this monthly challenge reflects the unconscious mindset that you attract the vibes you put out into the universe. If you spend your time looking for all the things that go wrong and loudly, often, complaining about them, it will seem like everything is wrong. The opposite is also true. If you cultivate a mindset of being grateful and thankful, you might start to notice the small things and appreciate all that is going right in your life.
Will you join me in this Thankful November challenge? I'll be writing daily (even if I don't share them all) and really trying to limit my negative complaints. For the next thirty days, my goal is a daily post about something or someone that I am truly grateful for. Some posts will be heartfelt while others will be silly, but all are written with an appreciative heart.
Are you up for the challenge?
I'm a tad behind on #ThankfulNovember, so let's play catch up. I slept in and had a nap today, so forgive me in advance for the long post (and wedding day teasers)!
To recap, I've already expressed appreciation for good substitute teachers, personal days, Amazon shopping deals, early voting opportunities, daylight savings time, sleep, field trips, chaperones, crafty friends, good friends, and DIY projects.
I've got a good dozen other days to catalog, so here goes nothing:
(As a side note, I give shout outs to some products and people below. I was not paid for my opinions, I just give them freely whether or not I'm asked. These are not paid endorsements.)
1) My hair dresser and friend Chelsea. Not only did she create my gorgeous wedding updo, but she gave into my desires and hacked off six inches a week later. She's amazingly reasonable and if you're in the Las Vegas area, go visit her at {The Salon at Lakeside}. They even have groupons available!
2) My wedding coordinator, Lyndsey. I'm not quite done processing the wedding and the frustrating parts, but she was amazing from start to finish. Again, if you're in Las Vegas and looking for an event space, {Wedgewood at Stallion Mountain} was simply amazing.
3) The school district. It's rare for me to praise CCSD considering the shenanigans that have been pulled, but the adjusted contract means I have the entire week of Thanksgiving off. Hallelujah!
4) Etsy sellers. There are many things I'm quite crafty at. Printing thank you cards, etching glass beer mugs, coffee mugs, and making custom stamps are not in that category.
We ordered our bridal shower thank yous, bridal party thank yous, wedding thank you cards, and other stationary from {MarryGrams}.
Our groomsmen gifts were etched beer mugs from {BlackRockEngraving}. He was amazingly helpful and from my hometown, which was a fun bonus. I thanked him (Ben) on his Facebook business page and he responded immediately, inquiring about the wedding and reminding me to tell my momma if she wants to open an Etsy shop (to sell her quilts), he'll help her. What a stand up guy!
Look how great those mugs look (I assume they were full at one point):
We thanked our make up gurus with these cute mugs from {All That Glitter}. These mugs were packed full of chocolate and a Sephora gift card, because that's the way to their hearts.
Lastly, our awesome self-inking stamp from {Pretty Sweet Party} has been such a blessing as I'm doing all our wedding thank you cards. Ours looks like this:
But ya know, with our info on it.
I am a firm believer in supporting small businesses which is why I'm so thankful to these Etsy shops for providing what I needed for my wedding. It feels nice to support Ben (BlackRock) or Leslie (All That Glitter) rather than some mega corporation.
5) Small businesses. I have 3 ({Jamberry}, {Younique}, and {Teachers Pay Teachers}). Together, they help subsidize the insultingly low paycheck I get for teaching three dozen ten year olds each day.
As a thank you to my loyal readers and followers, everything will be at least 20% off in my TpT sale from Black Friday until Cyber Monday.
Happy shopping!
6) I'm thankful that so many of our friends and family members were able to celebrate with us at our wedding a few weeks ago. It was awesome to be surrounded by the people who made us who we are and share our vows in front of friends and family.
7) I'm thankful that we got to spend time with my family after the wedding. My mom and aunts hosted a brunch the Saturday after the wedding and then we all went out to dinner. They did tourist-y things in between while I napped. It was nice to get to squeeze in some extra bonding time because we don't see them often enough!
8) I'm thankful for close friends, both literally and figuratively. Our power went out on Friday morning, impacting nearly 15,000 residents in our neighborhood. Luckily Mrs. H wasn't impacted and let me come over and get ready for work because the flashlight feature on my cellphone simply wasn't cutting it.
9) I'm thankful for my students. Not only were they (mostly) well behaved for their substitute teacher, but I walked back in last Wednesday to this:
Cue all the awws. One of my students also got me a glittery Batman mug and chocolate. She definitely knows the way to my heart!
10) I'm also thankful for the new store {Boxed Lunch} and it's amazing assortment of all sorts of fandom things I didn't know I needed (like my new Ravenclaw sweater). However, they donate food to kids with each purchase, so I don't really feel bad about my impulse shopping. Plus it was buy one item, get something else 30% off...which is how we ended up with vanilla mango beard oil for B. He is quite excited about it.
11) Obama and Biden memes.
I'm not ready to accept what's happening politically in our country. Tears were shed. I'm #stillwithher. However, these are giving me some hope in the time of darkness...especially when they're Harry Potter themed.
12) I'm grateful that our teacher gradebook is online. I graded seven different assignments today (thirty five of each). I also watched six episodes of Gilmore Girls, took a nap, and walked the pup because balance is important. I'm grateful that I could enter all these grades at home and it's one less thing to deal with next Monday morning.
13) I'm thankful for opportunities. With the Read by 3 state grant, I sold my preps to work on professional development and mentor new teachers (and various other tasks). It's been an adjustment period for sure, but I'm really loving mentoring and working with new teachers. We unfortunately had one resign due to personal reasons and I wish her the best on her next adventure, but I'm choosing to look at the positives. I get to sit in on interviews tomorrow to hire a new teacher. I've never done that before and I think it's kind of nifty! I'm optimistic we'll find someone to fit into our school community (meaning they must love potlucks, because we do those often!)
I'm thankful that tomorrow I get to sleep in, have a grading party at Panera planned (with gift cards, so I'm not spending money), and visit the post office to drop off our wedding thank you cards and my dress to be cleaned/preserved.
What are you thankful for?
Despite being sick, it was a weekend of firsts for me.
It was my first Thanksgiving not with my mom. It was my first one with B and his family. It was a little strange, not being with my mom, but his parents and extended family are incredibly welcoming. I realize this is part of growing up and that holidays are about compromise. We just saw my mom a few weeks ago and will see her again right after the holidays, so it'll be okay. Plus I talked with her a good half a dozen times this weekend (sorry mom!).
We arrived early and I helped in the kitchen (this is big for me people!). We brought a variety of bread, wine, and flowers for the table. His cousin made the whole duck-chicken-turkey situation which I was not brave enough to try.
Food was delish and I felt a bit like this:
Afterward, my allergies got the best of me and I napped. To be fair, I had a full stomach, a warm blanket, and my football team wasn't on television.
Friday was the first time that I did not go Black Friday shopping. We ventured out of the house around one pm to visit the post office (bestie's birthday is next week), pick up Chinese food, and some medicine from the grocery store. I know, I live an exciting life people! The rest of the day revolved around trying to grade, napping, and decorating for the holidays.
Saturday we did a Small Business Saturday vendor event at my house. I had {Jamberry}, Amy (my upline) had {Younique}, Lisa had {31} and Janel had {Origami Owl}. We split the set up, which worked out way better for everyone's budgets.
We had a great time and started brainstorming our next big Saturday event. We'd love to rent out our school's multipurpose room and have a Saturday shopping event...when things calm down. So, March?
Our set up is getting better and better each time!
Sunday I tried a flash sale for Jamberry online with a VIP group.
It went okay, but I have ideas how to make it better for next time. I'm thinking of doing a make up and Jamberry flash sale in the middle of December for those procrastinating gifters.
I did decorate and wrap gifts! (3 for my mom, 1 for his mom, 1 for my bestie, and 1 for Leah, my brother's girlfriend and one of my bridesmaids). Obviously solid progress.
The rest of the weekend involved napping, attempting to finish up this grading pile, snuggling with fur babies, watching television, yelling during football, and doing the minimum amount of school work that's required for Monday.
This week brings extra paperwork (student withdrew and we've got to get ready for parent-teacher conferences, which means sending out conference notes. I've learned my lesson, mine will be pink to clearly identify that they get returned to me.). I've also got Battle of the Books tomorrow (we're trying paper slide videos), a Discovery Ed meeting, and the possibility of visitors just popping in on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday (no pressure there!). I'm already ready for next weekend.
