Pet Rent?

Seriously? What the hell is that?!
Okay. I understand a pet deposit. But somehow a dog (or cat) is supposed to contribute money to pay rent?

Two scenarios in which I would happily pay the rent for my 12 pound dog, Polly.
1. Polly is such a pretty, charismatic dog. She could model! Hello runways of Paris and Milan! The new Preta Porte para Puppies! Ugh! When my dog starts making the Benjamins, she'll start paying rent. But she owes me first. All those vet bills and cans of food won't pay for themselves. Sarcasm is fuuuuun.

2. Provide my dog with a dog house, puppy park and a pooch wash station and an onsite vet. Once Polly receives the amenities and benefits from the apartment community as I would/do, then I'd happily dish out money like it's no tomorrow.

But...
$500-1000 NONrefundable pet deposit
PLUS 20 dollars a month pet rent.
No.
NO.
NOOOO!!!

So that one little factor ruled out 18 of our 20 apartment choices.

However, we found an apartment that has a high pet deposit. It is all refundable if the apartment is in good condition, which it will be. And there is no pet rent.

A dog is not a person, people! A dog is a dog!

May 21 Menu Plan Monday and LIFE!!

Fooey, I started this a couple days ago and now I'm getting around to finishing it up.

What a freaking whirlwind!!

So I got the news about being transferred. I sent an email to my new principal. I actually met him a couple days ago. He seems very nice and they are excited to have me. I look a look at my new work "home". I have two classrooms. TWO classrooms... TWOOO!!! The first one is a regular classroom with tables. And a storage room. And I have my own office again. Then next door, I have a kitchen classroom with a laundry room and I think another storage room (which would make sense). From what I saw, it seemed a bit drab. I'll have those rooms so unbelievably colorful in no time.

And some more news... Mr. New Principal is offering to have my belongings moved to my new classroom for me! Meaning, I don't have to break my back hauling boxes that I shouldn't carry, storing them in our apartment and moving (ahem, more later) and then moving them into the school. Needless to say but I totally got my butt into gear and really went through my stuff at the high school. Not that I wasn't doing it beforehand, but I want to get my stuff moved out and out of the way.

And then some more amazing news! Husband got a couple of interviews in the district. He totally nailed his second interview and got a job at a different middle school!! I am so proud of him! I think his classes will focus on photography and ceramics which he really loved doing out at The Old ISD.

So that brings us to some new changes for our lives - or lifestyle. We're moving to a new apartment - hooray! A better community. A safer place and a bit bigger space. We will have to get a new car - hooray! And Ivy will be staying with a caretaker during the day - boo. The lady is awesome! I only say boo because Ivy won't be at home with one of us and it's money out of our pockets too. But we've heard nothing but great things about her and Ivy loves her too. So it's not really a bad thing at all. Just a little sad-face.

So it looks like another busy, back breaking summer. But we're stepping up. We'll be able to squander away some money to save for a house. A HOUSE!!

And here it is. What we've all been reading through my post for... The Menu Plan Monday!

Sunday - Fondu
Monday - Pizza
Tuesday - Sausages
Wednesday - Ranch Chicken
Thursday - Breakfast
Friday - Steak
Saturday - Fried catfish and shrimp

http://orgjunkie.com/2012/05/menu-plan-monday-may-2112-giveaway.html for more information and more menus!

Menu Plan Monday and Vlogging

Another week down, one and a half weeks of school left. It is so strange. After being under the impression that I was staying, having my classroom in the new building assigned and packing "my" stuff, I've been transferred to a middle school within the district. It is a bit painful, but I am so thankful that I still have a job and I am still in the district. I don't have to pick up and move my family again. It is really bittersweet. Teaching middle school is going to be a challenging new experience for me.

So in the last couple of months, I've been vlogging. Uh, yeah, I just posted 3 on here today! I'm really finding this medium of blogging really fun. I wish I had more time to devote to it. I know there are people out there who make mega bucks for being a YouTube star and doing videos is their life. I'm just having fun with this. So I spend maybe a day videoing, an evening editing and then posting all over the place the next day. I've got a lot of vlog plans. But hey, you know what, if you want to suggest something for me to vlog, let me know! Head to my blog and check out my vlogs!

With that, I say hello to another Menu Plan Monday...

Sunday - Mother's day, we had fondu!
Monday - Chinese (ordered in)
Tuesday - Chinese leftovers
Wednesday - Club cracker chicken
Thursday - Pizza
Friday - I'm going out so it's a YOYO day
Saturday - Fried catfish and shrimp

For more menus: Menu Plan Monday at OrgJunkie

In my work bag.wmv

Okay, this is the last video I post on my blog for the day. I should just do this when it's up instead of waiting. ANyway, this is a "What's in my (work) bag" video in which I disect everything that is in my bag. I make some weird faces! Personality shining through. Haha!

Child's Room Tour.wmv

Like I said in this video, I asked people to tell me what they'd like to see in my next video. One of my friends asked for a nursery tour. Nurseries are for plants and babies... Ivy is 2 so she just has a room. Anyway, I hope you enjoy taking a look at my kiddo's room!

Retro Glam Makeup Tutorial

This is how I do my smokey eye makeup! Enjoy.

Menu Plan Monday

A little bit late but that's okay...
It seems we took a hiatus from MPM but we have actually been doing them. I just haven't posted them. I guess I could get back in the habit of things, right?

Here is this week's MPM
Sunday - leftover bbq from Hard Eight... YUM!!
Monday - Hamburgers
Tuesday - Pizza
Wednesday - Breakfast
Thursday - Chicken
Friday - Hot dogs
Saturday - Unplanned, I'm sure we'll end up with pasta.

What is MPM? It's totally awesome is what it is!!

Cheesecake Stuffed Strawberries!

So I went ahead and did my vlog for my Cheesecake Stuffed Strawberries.

A story about these little jems... I had seen them all over the internet for quite some time. I finally decided to make them (and by the gods, I didn't see them on the internet anymore). I don't quite remember the first time I made them but I was with my mom at my apartment. I had gotten a call to interview and the evening of my interview, we made these for dessert. I got the call that I got the job just before we ate dessert. It was a wonderful celebratory treat. So I associate happy memories with these.

Here is the full recipe!!

My first official vlog

It's only an intro just to say what my plans are. I couldn't even tell you why I did an intro. Derp.

Enjoy the trainwreck!

Adventures in Vlogging

I've made videos before. Short clips here and there of my kiddo. Some photo slide shows. I've even made vlogs - but these are long gone.

I've decided to get back into vlogging. It's mostly because I want to challenge and motivate myself to do something new and to explore a new way of expression. I have a lot of ideas that I'm doing.
I'm starting off with what I see on beauty vlogs... whats in my bag, my accent, closet tour, make up collection and I'm planning on a letterboxing series. And I'm thinking that I'll do some craft how-to's.

If there is something you'd like to see, make some suggestions! I'm hoping that I'll get to do a Q&A vlog.

Plant life

My last visit to our hometown ended with me taking home plants. I've grown these plants successfully but one winter wiped them all out. So I took the last of what my mom had of one plant and excess of a couple others to try and grow. My dad also gave me a cucumber plant. So far I haven't killed them yet.

Week 1

Week 2

Random Thoughts v.4.13

There are things I should be doing instead of this. For instance, grades and getting next weeks lessons prepared. But apparently, I don't really care too much. Otherwise I'd be doing them. I am distracting myself.

Since it has been more than one month since my last post, I figured now would be a great time to update. Everyone is feeling the "summer itch." The seniors have 'senior-itis' and everyone else has cabin fever.

I had one student order prom flowers. At least I had a repeat customer. She is one of the kiddos that ordered a mum from me. I've started taking Zumba classes. I've only been to a few and I love it. My dance class is now an advanced class. I don't know if I'll still be going to the basic one or now. But it's nice to know that I had the invitation for that class. Now, if only ballet fitness would be in the evenings... To keep this random, I've decided to start video blogging. And it is planned to be pretty random so far. I have some general ideas and I don't know which direction to really take it right now. I was also given some ideas that I'll use. I just need to be able to do them.

I wish I had a house.

My CHL has arrived. It's official!

I'm making plans for summer. Things I want to do. I'm going to do couponing again. I took time off - I guess - during the work year because it got to be a hassle with everything else. So I'm going to stock up on things we need and save some money.

I really need to get my butt up in the mornings to jog. However, there was a shooting in my apartment complex earlier this week so I'm always leaning towards hesitant. I want to lose some weight so I can be comfortable in my own skin. If I could wake up one hour early, I'd have 30 mins for exercise, 20 minutes to clean up and some extra time to eat a decent breakfast and get ready. GAH! Thinking of stealing someone's motivation and setting alarms on my phone.

And I guess I just needed to get it out of my system. Adios.

Mishmash

Getting my CHL. I had been wanting it since last summer. A couple years ago, I took my dog for a walk one evening. I saw a man walking down the street. I took Polly in and got ready to take a shower. A few minutes later, there was a knock on the door. Good thing Ryan answered the door. The guy ran off. I'm certain I'd not be here, or be in bad shape if I'd opened that door. But I'll feel safer being able to protect myself it the need arises.

I passed the test and the shooting portion. I'm an awesome shot nor only having shot a rifle once over 10 years ago. Even the instructor commented on my shooting. Now I want a glock. I really loved shooting the gun. There are other things that I need to do to get the CHL. Spend money, fingerprints, mail pages then good to go. Totally upping my BA level a few notches.

~*~

We went to the Dallas Burlesque Festival this year. I'm so glad we went. Burlesque is coming back! Are there misconceptions? Yes. People think it's like Christina Aguilera and Cher's movie. Nope, that's just a filmed concert with a story. People also think it's stripping. Eh, sort of. Yes, the performers take of their clothes. But the difference is that burlesque dancers dance for entertainment. Strippers dance for money. Can burlesque be sexual? Yes. But it can also be funny and quirky.

A couple weeks after the DBF, Ryan found a groupon for the Ruby Room Studio. They put on the DBF. So we bought some classes for me. I've been taking classes at a studio more locally for quite some time and I really enjoy it.

Do I ever really intend to perform? I'd like to. It's on my 'bucket list'. Do I see it happening? Probably not. But, who knows. I sure am having fun though.

On that note, I've been getting interested in the retro look. Hair and makeup from the 40s and 50s. I got my hair figured out. Hot rollers and all. Love it! And I decided to pile on all the really red lipsticks I've got. And it's amazing. I used to think I couldn't wear it. But apparently I can and I can wear it well. I wish I could do it every day.

~*~

Smash Journal
This isn't something that I'm obsessed about or really interested in. But there's a new thing going around. It's like a mix between a scrapbook and a journal. It's also called a junk journal. The premise behind it is that anything can go in it. Who needs rules, right? There's no wrong way to do it. But looking online, it seems that there's only one right way to do it. Cutesy scrapbook style with pretty ephemera. And there's a company that caters to this. Oooooooof course there is. Because someone has to make money off of everything. What happened to just putting together whatever you want without the guidance of sticky notes that require you to list ten books you want to read or what you're currently wearing. Why buy it when you can make it for free? Oh, because it looks cool? Oh, other people have it? Oh, you can hear my eyeballs rolling from three miles away? Great. While a catchall book looks great and interesting. I'm fairly certain that you don't have to buy into the products that are shoved down your throat.

~*~

The Civil Wars
I love this band. I've had their album for quite some time. I hit someone's tumblr and she posted Barton Hollow. I instantly got the album. And I cannot get them out of my mind! I want to see them in concert.

Productivity Report

Apparently I have this feeling that I am ahead of the game and thus do not need to do any actual work. Far from it. I am behind. And I won't be caught up for the rest of the week. So the plan is to fake it until I make it. I'll be fine. There are just a few time consuming things that I absolutely must do though. Grade papers. I have a large stack of worksheets that need to be graded. And here I sit, writing about procrastinating. I've got things on my mind, okay?

I have been having some very vivid dreams lately. Most of which relate to my recently passed aunt. I believe in the meanings of dreams when they seem extra real to me. Not the type of dreams in which you cannot discern reality. Not the types of dreams where one thing means something else. Let's leave Freud out of that, please. If it's a dog, it's a dog. For instance, I had an overwhelming amount of dreams while pregnant that my baby was a girl. Didn't find out the sex until her birthday. So I think there's something there. Tangent.

Point is, I've been having dreams about my aunt. She's visiting to tell me she's okay or just checking in. Do I believe this? On some level. It is a comfort to have those dreams. But we can all fool ourselves into believing something. I think I'm also having those dreams because I feel guilty. She helped raise me and once I started dating my husband, contact with her just stopped. No, it isn't his fault. I feel guilty that even though I had time to, I didn't visit with her. Then I question, what right do I have to miss her and grieve as much as I am? Every time that I think about her, I become emotional. Not outwardly, but still I get sad.

The past six months or so have been full of death in my family. My mother's oldest brother. One of my mom's brother-in-law. Her sister. And most recently, my cousin's husband whose death is extremely shocking. He was younger than me and he had no medical problems that I'm aware of.

And this is the point at which I shut down. This is my train of thought. And I need to pull myself out of this slump. This depressing line of thinking. There is life. Life that is being made. Life that is new. Life that needs to be lived.

And I'm trying to really live.

I don't get it

I don't know if it's a pile of situations that I'm dealing with, stress, or if it's part of the cycle of my like. But I just feel like crying.

There's really no good way to explain what's going on. I'm getting lost in my thoughts more and more. I'm retreating to the shelter of a dark, quiet corner in my mind. The world in front of my face feels ten miles away.

My Aunt died. And every single time I think about it... I have to stop myself.

I haven't been enjoying my days lately either. I have a new bunch of kids and I'm not my normal peppy self. But they wouldn't notice since the new semester just started.

I didn't fully enjoy my dance class last night either.

And work... I've got a new class schedule and I feel so rushed. It's very strange.

To top it all off, I'm down on myself too. Hating myself right now. Don't know why. I don't know what the deal is. I'm just not in the best of moods. I hate getting to these funks. Nothing happens to set me off on these things. It just happens.

Aunt Carol

Too many memories

Hello. I'm Lena. Or Rachel. Or Lena Rae. Take your pick. I don't know where she came up with Rachel. But it stuck.

---

I have a slight scar down the bridge of my nose. I was about three years old. She took me to visit someone in Arkansas - there's a picture of her holding me with my bo-bo nose in front of the tower in Hot Springs. The people we were visiting had dogs and I was pretending to be a dog sniffing the floor. I missed the concept and ended up rubbing my nose on the floor. Carpet burn on my nose.

---

She was adament about no beverage refills during our meals. My theory is that we shouldn't fill up on drinks and waste the food. To this day, I cannot finish my glass before I finish my plate.

---

Impromptu trips just out of the blue. Arkansas, Cleveland, a loop through Louisiana. I remember waking up on several occasions at her house with the first question of the day... "Do you want to go to...?"

---

Nearly every weekend was spent there. Staying up late at night watching cable tv - because we didn't have that at home. The back porch full of metal drums of toys, god save you if one fell over on you. The time she found her cosmetology liscense. All the photos and candles. She knew we were always going to run to her so she bought us all toothbrushes, carved our names into them and hung them over her bathroom sink. Her house is the first memory I have of playing Teacher. Digging in all the old trinkets and treasures. For all I know, my first memory of snow and my pink and white Mini Mouse leg warmers.

---

I drove the boat of a 77 gold Thunderbird when I was getting my driver's liscense.
Sitting in one of the cars when I was five listening to old country music.

---

She took me to eat breakfast somewhere at the buttcrack of dawn. I remember very well the triangle toast with grape jelly and loving it so much.

---

And the food. Boy could she cook. She made breakfast every Tuesday morning for our youth group before school. Bacon, eggs, sausage, biscuts from scratch. Some major holidays were spent at her large dinner table with barely any space for our plates.

---

She was always giving. If there was something we needed or wanted, she got it for you. School clothes, school supplies, letterman jacket, repairs for a broken instrument. She also made sure I went to youth camp in NC.

---

SPLASH. We all wanted our hair crimped and to be mermaids. So our moms crimped our hair and we played in the wading pools trying to not get our hair wet. This was some get-together.

---

Many vacations spent with her. Especially to the beach. I was burried in sand on the beach with a mermaid tail. She came and camped out on the beach with us several times too.

---

I was 5 when our house burned down. She took me and my family in until my parents could get back on their feet. I remember Christmas day there that year. And her awesome vintage ornaments.

---

Making a ton of valentines cards and handing them out at nursing homes. Making Christmas ornaments.

...

Seriously, we all refer to her as our second mom. She basically helped raise me. All of us, really. Her neices and nephews - and to those fortunate, our children. Even though I've moved away, Ivy got to know her. I wish she could've had similar times with her that I did.

We all have similar stories. Similar memories. Similar lessons learned. To love. To be kind. To be good people. To be giving. So many memories. That's all we can take with us.

Hello again blog!

After a wonderful spam attack through my yahoo account, I decided to create a very similar gmail account. I also decided that I would kill off my older gmail account because it associated itself with a ton of incoming spam emails.

I had been trying to figure out how to connect this new email account with my blog. I finally got it! I wasn't thrilled about constantly signing in and out of the different accounts. So I hope I'll be posting here more. But for now, I'm hanging out on Pinterest a lot.

Otherwise, hooray! Now I just need to redesign this thing because it is butt ugly.

11 in '11

11. Favorite movie you watched: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2

10. Favorite TV series: Mad Men ... dresses and makeup - how to be a lady in the business world

9. Favorite restaurant: Freebirds

8. Favorite new thing you tried: Burlesque dance classes

7. Favorite gift you got: Well, I won and iPad from work but I haven't gotten it yet. But I got a Kindle touch so that'd top my list because I love to read.

6. Favorite thing you pinned: I like everything I pin. Isn't that the point? I love pinning fashion stuff because I so desperately need help in that arena.

5. Favorite blog post: Posting about all the homecoming mums I did.

4. Best accomplishment: I got hired at a new school. One that I had wanted to be at since my teaching career started. I'm so happy!!!

3. Favorite picture: Our family portrait

2. Favorite memory: Seeing Dita Von Teese perform in Dallas - Strip Strip Hooray!!

1. Goal for 2012: Get my act together (clothes/style, weight, etc)

Craftober

October is becoming my annual craft/creation month! Craftober!

So I made two more mums since my last post. These were for two of my senior babies from my previous school. They're my senior babies because I had them in classes since their freshmen year which was my first year teaching them.

I actually made that little bear's uniform. So cute! And I love how the military braids came out all curly.



















I also decorated a pair of overalls to wear on theme days at work. We do - in fact - have an overall day since we are the Fighting Farmers. I don't think I'm finished with them. At least I got them to a decent point to be able to wear them. We had a total of 3 overall days. I missed two because I couldn't find any overalls. But I was able to find some right after our second day for $5! Snatched those puppies up!

I love owls so I had to put that little patch on there. And I love swallows too. Dangit, I just love birds in general.


And, then of course I made Ivy's Halloween costume. This year, she was Foofa from her favorite... Yo Gabba Gabba! She loved it. It only took me 3.5 hours for everything. I didn't have a pattern so I just winged it. Came out pretty good! We took her to Denton for the Day of the Dead Festival the Saturday before Halloween. She got to trunk or treat, play a game to win some candy and just enjoyed the day.



















On Halloween, she got dressed up again and we took her to her Uncle and Auntie's house for her very first trick-or-treating experience. She got a bunch of candy! After visiting for a little bit, we went to eat supper and then went to our friend, Lyn's for trick-or-treating.

And my lame pumpkin for good measure. A haunted house.