In the Key of C

A New Year, A New Me

Happy New Year!  2010 was fabulous but I'm looking forward to great things in 2011.  I'm focusing on three major areas this year--family, career, and wellness.  I'm off to a pretty good start on all fronts.  Just before the year ended I became a National Board Certified Teacher!  My area of specialty is Early and Middle Childhood Literacy.  Super ecstatic about that.  I have some other major career things in the works this year.  I also became my chapter's historian (in the sorority).  Being an avid scrapper and photographer has certainly prepared me for that!  In terms of wellness, I'm excited about what this year will bring.  I lost 15 pounds since August and I feel great!  Mom and I signed up for Iron Girl 2011.  We are psyched.  My goal is to drop about 15 more pounds before the race.  It's definitely doable.  I've been focusing on living a healthier lifestyle.  My eating habits have changed and I've started my triathlon training.  Operation Svelte is in full effect!  Family is always an important area of focus for me.  I really want to be a good wife, sister, aunt, and daughter.  I plan to strengthen those bonds because they are the most important in my life.  

It's. All. Good.

So things have been super hectic in the last few months.  School always zaps my energy at the beginning of the year.  If I can just make it to Thanksgiving Break, life should get back to a normal pace.  I've been having a lot of fun in the midst of all the chaos.  I'm a proud auntie once again!  Baby Gabriel, is my newest nephew.  That makes four nephews!     He is simply the cutest! My oldest nephew is a football star!  He is going to be a force on the field, but I think he needs to beef up a little bit, lol.  He's kind of little.   I didn't realize Little League football was so serious!  Those parents are out of control.  You'd be surprised at how they act at the games.  It's bananas!   Aside from hanging out with the nephews, I've been busy trying to get back in shape!  I've started cycling again, mostly riding my trainer in the house, but I went home and rode with Mom in Hope on Wheels this year.  This was my fourth time doing the event, and I had a lot of fun riding with ladies of Potenza Cycling Club!  I always love riding with them.  I wish there was someone or a group I could ride with here...it's such great exercise.  I've lost 10 pounds in the last two months just riding in the house.   I know that riding on the road on the regular would kick up the fitness to another level.  On the sorority front, I've been pretty busy lately with our Fall events, our Grand Community Health Fair and our Cluster V Meeting were both within weeks of each other.  Cluster was AWESOME!  We were the host chapter--and "we did that"!  It was very lovely.  

It's always wonderful to see all of my Sorors!  The Health Fair was a success.   Big things are popping for me in the next couple of months.  I can feel it.  I'm anxiously awaiting my National Board results...one more month until I find out.  I'm on pins and needles over here. Some other things are in the works both personally and professionally so just stay tuned.  In the meantime, know that life is good...and it can only get better!

July in Review

 The month of July was busy but wonderful.  I went to St. Louis, Missouri for a week for Boule, my sorority's biennial business meeting.  While there I managed to get out and see the city.  It reminded me of New Orleans, minus the party atmosphere. 
The food was just downright delicious.  Very down home, southern cuisine.  We went to Pappy's, that was featured on Man vs. Food.  You wouldn't believe the dish they have named after the host of the show...way too much for one person to eat! The barbecue was serious! 
Sweetie Pies, specialized in soul food.  The lines in both of these restaurants were ridiculous.  
We went to a couple of casinos and my cousin Erin had a lucky streak.  The one place I wanted to go was to the Scott Joplin House, but we arrived at closing time.  I did manage to get this cute picture though, lol.
  After my trip to St. Louis I headed to Nashville to celebrate my nephew's 3rd birthday.  We had a little cake and ice cream at home, then the whole family headed out to the zoo!  After the zoo closed to the public, we stayed for a special members only zoo experience.  

 

  
We didnt' get to see many animals because they put them away at  night, but there were jungle gyms and other cool kid things for them to do.  A great time was had by all!  
 

 

 
I was a little obsessed with the giraffes. They were super close to us.  I will spare you the zillions of photos I took of them, lol. 

I had loads of fun following my three nephews around like the paparazzi. 
     

 


My cousin Hope came down to hang out with us for the weekend.  She had more fun than the little ones, lol.    

Max just wouldn't let his blankie go.  I was so shocked when he walked into the little snake in the jungle gym.  He's growing up so fast.  When I returned to Atlanta, my mother-in-law and her sister came to visit us for a few days.  We went shopping at some outlet malls, hung out at Centennial Park, and my hubby was the host with the most.  He cooked some amazingly delicious meals that weekend.  I have about two weeks left before I have to return to the hustle and bustle of school.  I'm enjoying my summer too much to let it go!  I have some great pictures to play with over the rest of my break.  Relaxation is the priority as I prepare mentally for another school year.     

A Summer Groove

 

Apparently Summer is just what I needed to get my groove back!  Yes!  I spent the day working on this lo of my lovely sorors and me.  I'm loving the pattern I've established in the last few days--wake up, eat, read, scrap, work out, nap, scrap, eat, scrap, read, lol!  It's been marvelous.  I'm going to keep at it until Saturday, then it's off to my first Boule.  Way excited about that, but don't want to stop creating.  The good thing is that I will have lots of pictures when I return from my little trip.  Aside from scrapbooking, I've been a watching my favorite shows in excess, lol.  Of course the Grey's repeats are essential.  I've also been tuning in faithfully to my soaps, AMC & GH.  I'm starting to dig HawthoRNe too.  My hubby thinks I'm obsessed with hospital drama, lol.  Maybe I should have been a doctor...truthfully up until my sophomore year of college that was the path...and then I decided to become a teacher. And the rest is history.    When I'm not watching my shows I'm trying to read a little--okay a lot!  I've been my usual bookworm self.  I'm reading True Colors by Kristin Hannah right now--a little slow, but I'm hoping it will speed up.  I've got some great books lined up for when I'm done.  I'm slowly getting into the e-book thing, I've downloaded a few books onto my iPad for my trip next week.  I still love the feel of a real book though.  Not sure I'll ever fully convert to digital.  I'm rambling, so I'm out of here.  It's time to get back to preparing for tomorrow's page(s)! 

On a Roll!

 Three layouts in three days!  I haven't done that in a while.  My LS Sonya has inspired me today--she made 6 layouts in a day.  I can never get that many done for my own books in one sitting.  Two or three at the most.  I have to take little breaks so the ideas can marinate, lol.  I can't wait for us to get together soon so we can bounce some of this creativity off of each other.  All this scrappin' makes me a little nostalgic. My buddy Mari and I used to scrap for hours on end.  With her in NY it just isn't the same.  I did get to see her today during her layover in Atlanta, on her way to Puerto Rico (a trip that I should have been on).  We drove out to Archiver's, as if I needed any more scrap supplies.  It was just nice to be in the company of my dear friend and her friend Delali.  I hope I can keep up this spark of artistic energy, it would be grand to do at least one page per day for the rest of this week! 

Happy 4th of July!

On this lovely Fourth of July I've been scrappin' to my heart's content!  Hope your Fourth of July is filled with family, friends, and FUN!

 

Summer Creativity

 So, I'm back into the swing of scrappin'!  I bought some lovely pattern paper and 52 More Scrapbooking Challenges magazine at Archiver's the other day, and that has sparked a whirlwind of creativity.  I printed out a bunch of pics to match all of that scrap goodness and I'm ready to get busy!  Here are a few pages that I have done in 2010, that I never got around to posting.  Most of them were made in June.  The "This Guy" layout was made today.  

Dash for Diabetes 2009

  Chocolate Buffet, 2009

Layout of Soror Cynthia and I...still haven't journaled yet.

 
My nephew Max!

 
My nephew Langston, and his favorite saying a while back.

Eric and his little sister Erika.    

Spring is in the Air!

Today was an absolute gorgeous day!  
 I spent the early part of the day at my chapter's annual Mother-Daughter Luncheon with my cousin Erikka and my aunt.
   My mother and father are in Florida, so I wasn't able to share that time with my mom!  Everyone was so beautiful in their dresses and hats.  
 I love this event because we give $20,000 in college scholarships to high school seniors.  We also honor women in the community who are trailblazers in philanthropy and service Gotta love my AKA! 
  I spent the rest of the afternoon dining with my team teacher and 3 of our students.  We took the girls to a restaurant to celebrate high scholastic achievement.  There were supposed to be 10 students, but we couldn't coordinate all of their little weekend schedules.   When I got home I was pooped.  I totally slept for about three hours!  Ridiculous!  The pollen during this season just zaps me every time.  Tomorrow I plan to do some spring cleaning and some much needed scrappin'!  

I haven't been creative in a few weeks.  I plan to spend the better half of the day making cards or pages!  I have tons of stuff from my trip to Archiver's over Spring Break.  Lots of beautiful product out right now, that I'm dying to play with!   I finished The Wife's Tale.  It was pretty good.  I didn't really feel the ending though.  I could totally relate to the main character, Mary Gooch, in some ways.  I picked up a new thriller by Mary Higgins Clark, that's on my "To Read" list, but first I'm reading Kayla Perrin's Spring Break.  It should make for  a quick read with lots of action and drama, lol.  Now that my NB box has shipped, I can relax for a bit and just enjoy the joy that is Spring!

Remember Me?

 I can't believe it's been 8 months since I've updated this thing.  Of course time stands still for no one, so there has been plenty going on in my world.   My Spring Break is coming to a close and work is imminent.  So I plan to savor this weekend and fill it with things I love to do.   Back in November I had a little snafu...I broke my pinky toe in two places, which left me immobile for a good 2 months.  That meant no exercise, which set me way back with my fitness goals, so no triathlons for me for a few months.  I'm just now starting to get back on track. Eric and I celebrated our 5th Wedding Anniversary at a beautiful resort here in Georgia, Chateau Elan.  Absolutely splendid experience!  I started at yet another school, and I must say this is not my fav by any means, lol.  I'm pretty much counting down until summer, yes, I'm having that kind of year.  In spite of my zany school year I have been able to focus on my creativity.  I've been scrapbooking lately (mostly for the sorority and for others) and I've done a few photo shoots.  I've been reading up a storm of course.  Right now I'm reading The Wife's Tale by Loren Lansens.  I'm reading it for my coworker's book club.  I've been reading with them for a few months.  In addition to the books I've read with them, I'm reading books by my regular authors too.    I've read about 15 books since January--crazy!  I have to say I am enjoying my life right now and it will only get better.  

A Little Bit of This, A Little Bit of That...

Wow! Why do I have a blog?  I never post on it!  The truth is, I took a little hiatus, a siesta of sorts.  I kind of took issue to people being able to read my "ish" and never sharing anything about themselves.  I guess that's how I got hooked into Facebook, lol!  I've basically been laying low, enjoying life.  I'm on vacation and totally feeling relaxed.  My mom and I completed another triathlon!  We competed in the Aflac Iron Girl Triathlon at Lake Lanier along with 1200 other women.  We swam 535 meters, biked 19 miles, and ran a 5K (3.2 miles)!   

 Of course, Eric was our photographer for the event!  It was such a wonderful experience. Lake Lanier was beautiful.  We stayed in a cabin with, literally the whole family, lol!  The race was incredible!  I've never seen such determination.  I'm talking all ages, shapes, and sizes!  We were all Iron Girls at the end of the day!  Of course, we're fired up and ready to go for another one in September!  Outside of that, I've been watching Grey's reruns (How about that Season 5 Finale, good grief!), reading, and scrapbooking.  I'm working on a book for a client.  Can't wait to work on my own stuff soon!  At the beginning of the summer I took my 6 National Board exams, so now the waiting begins.  Hopefully I will be an NBCT! We don't get the results until November!  I still have three full weeks left in my break, and I plan on enjoying every single minute of it!