Because You're A Teacher....

After using the classroom clock for a math lesson today, I noticed that the clock had stopped running when I put it back up on the wall. A little while later I took it back down and started to fix the time, when I noticed the battery was corroded. One of my students was standing nearby, and I said "Hey check this out! The battery's all corroded." He asked "Is that why it stopped working?" to which I replied "Maybe."  


Very matter-of-factly, he asked "Well, did it look like that yesterday?" "I don't know," I said. "I don't take the clock off the wall and look at the battery every day."  To which the student replied "Oh.... I thought you did."


"Why would I do that?" I asked him.


He shrugged. "Because you're a teacher."


I love my job.

Frothy Goodness

 

I don’t photograph everything I eat, like some people. But when I eat something I really adore or that really excites me, I try to get some pictures in case I feel like sharing them later. And guess what….

it’s later!

I thought it would be fun to share with you some of the myriad of unshared photos of what I’ve been eating lately.

As you know, I invested (with a gift card) in a Bodum milk frother a few weeks ago. Since that time I have become a latte making machine! (Which is funny because I'm not using a latte making machine!)

I’ve been using our italian espresso maker to make some delicious espresso and heating milk on the stove top. It’s as easy as pour milk in mug, froth, and add espresso. And as you can tell…I’ve been getting my fix lately!

So foamy and warm and yummy. The frother was only $15, so it’s WAAAAY cheaper than buying a muy expensive espresso machine, and it pays for itself in Starbucks after 3 drinks! Win, win, win!

Have something you adore? Leave a comment below or email adoretoday at gmail dot com.

Sending Summer off in Style

Phew! The last few days have been busy!

Though I haven’t been able to blog in days, don’t worry. I’ve been mentally blogging and thinking of things I’m thankful for and would blog about if I had time!

Friday night we had a great time at Summer’s bachelorette party. Her wedding is still a few weeks away, and we had a great time sending her off!

We started off with dinner at Gloria’s, a Dallas staple that blends Mexican and El Salvadorian food.

Sangria. Yum! Plus the Gloria’s Super Sampler, with plantains, yucca, a banana-leaf wrapped tamale, and a yuuuummy papusa. Forgot to take a photo! Doh!

After a loooong wait and a delicious dinner, we moved to Family Karaoke. It’s the best karaoke place in Dallas, because it’s totally unique. You can rent a room of different sizes, depending on the size of your group. Each room has couches and chairs and your own karaoke player with big tvs on every wall. You can do karaoke with just your friends, so none of the embarrassing singing in front of the strangers!

We had a blast at karaoke. Lots of singing, laughing, and looking like fools- my favorite kind of evening!

One of the best parts of this karaoke place is that it’s in the Asian district of Dallas, so it’s a Korean-owned place. All the videos they show in the background of each song are really random Korean music videos that don’t go along with the song at all. Somehow they all seemed to involve people getting hit by a car and then dying tragically. Not exactly the best match for “Mamma Mia.”

We all had a great time and I hope Summer had a fun send off. Cheers!

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Make It Better

I was supposed to nephew-sit tonight. That didn’t work out- and it ended up leading to crappy thing after crappy thing happening tonight. It wasn’t anything major- not managing my time well, traffic, frustration, and disappointment. I wasn’t able to go to Forth Worth anymore, sot by the time I finally made it home I was really grumpy. I’d been looking forward to nephew-sitting all week, so I was disappointed it didn’t work out for reasons out of my control.

Anyway, I decided to come home and make dinner instead since my plans were cancelled. All week I’d been wanting to make chicken pot biscuit-pie, so I tried (as ever) to look on the bright side of life by finally having a quiet evening at home to make dinner. A glass of wine, my Diana Krall Pandora station (current fav!), a quick trip to go buy butter, and this was the finished product.

Totally hit the spot. I needed the comfort food tonight. I also heard this song, which I love, and fixed everything.

Sarah and I chit chatted, and she made me laugh, I drank wine and cooked, and when it was all ready, we feasted. It may not be how I’d planned to spend my time, but it definitively made my evening better (thought I still wish I had spent the evening giving my nephew hugs!).

Have something you adore? Leave a comment below or email adore today at gmail.com.

Crentist, My Dentist

 

I love The Office.

Over the last couple years, I’ve started dreading my dentist appointment every 6 months. It’s not that I’m afraid of the dentist, like some people, I’m just afraid of her bad news.

And the resulting bill.

As a kid I always took a lot of pride in not having any cavities, despite the tons of candy I ate. (I’ve always been a candy fiend.) When I became a teen, I had the normal amount of cavities from time to time, but I never really thought it was an issue. I brushed, I didn’t floss, but for the most part my teeth were fine. My freshman year of college I was diagnosed with TMJ, and fitted for a nightguard to wear while I sleep, because I grind my teeth pretty badly.

After college life was so up and down and I was so broke (weren’t we all…) that I went about 2 years without going to the dentist. Big mistake. I was brushing, but flossing was a joke, and I hardly ever wore my nightguard. I eventually started having tooth pain and reluctantly made my way to the dentist. Because of that time lost, I have had to get 3 crowns, several fillings, and have even had a few chipped teeth from grinding in my sleep in the last 2 years. After the crowns, I needed to get a new nightguard (because the imprint of my teeth had changed), but because I was spending so much on dental work, I didn’t want to shell out another $500 on a new night guard. So I continued to grind my teeth, need more dental work, pay for more dental work, and not buy a nightguard. It’s been a cycle. About a year ago I started using prescription toothpaste, bought a sonic care toothbrush, started wearing my nightguard more, and flossing more often (admittedly, not daily).

Back in June I went to the dentist and got a clean bill of dental health, so I assumed I was good to go and this was all finally behind me. So when the time came for my appointment last week, I was very surprised when the dentist told me there was a tooth that might have to have a crown put on it. I wasn’t in any pain, I had been taking better care of my teeth, but part of me started thinking “great…here we go again.” Every crown is about $500 with insurance, and a $500 surprise is not a fun one. (During the time I was having all this dental work done, I joked that I didn’t want the most expensive thing I owned to be in my mouth.)

All of that dental history is to explain what I adore today. When I got to the dentist and she started working, she discovered that I didn’t need a crown, just a filling! Woo hoo! That’s a huge weight off my shoulders. As backwards as it may sound, today I’m grateful for the pleasant surprise of not having to spend tons of unexpected money on dental work. (More camera money!) I was really glad that I didn’t have to waste money fixing another tooth, especially after the frustration over the last few years and the things I’ve done to improve my dental habits. Sometimes being scared about something and then having it end up being nothing to fear makes you realize how blessed you were in the first place.

So,what silly things are you grateful for?

Have something you adore? Leave a comment below or email it to adoretoday at gmail dot com.

Eat In Month

Diana of The Chic Life is doing a whole month of no restaurants. And I’m joining her!

As I mentioned the other day, I’ve decided to save money (for my camera!) this month and start my year off healthy by eating in. Diana did it last year and had great success with it. So I thought it would be a great way to kick off 2011.

So we’ve now been through 2 days of 2011, and I’ve already had problems. Woops…Yesterday I hung out with Victoria all day, and she, Kathryn and I were sitting around talking around dinner time. Dilemma….

I don’t want to be either the person who says “Oh, we can go eat. I’ll just sit and watch you…” and make everyone with me feel bad while I sit there and starve, nor the person who says “hey instead of doing what everyone wants and eating out, let’s go get groceries and eat in!” So we went to Carinos and got pizza.

First day.

Fail.

And then I realized. I have a bachelorette party Friday. We’re going out to dinner. Oh, yeah. And I have a friend’s birthday party Saturday. And we’re going to Pei Wei, one of my favorites.

So I emailed Diana and consulted her sage wisdom. She told me to relax and enjoy my social events with my friends. So I vowed to only eat out for Summer’s bachelorette, maybe for Julie’s party, and make up the extra days at the end.

We always go out to dinner after church, so I was bracing myself to go and hang out, but not eat. Telling myself that push was going to come to shove and I needed to make the right decision, no matter how tough.  And then we decided to go to Five Guys. It’s just opened nearby, and I’ve never been. There are other locations in Dallas, and I’ve been wanting to go forever! Somehow I’ve just never been, and tonight was my chance!

I arrived a bit after everyone, and they were already eating. I wanted to order a burger so bad! They did look super good, and I even pulled out my wallet at one point, but Kathryn and Victoria talked me into putting it away. Victoria even shared (many) of her fries. And they were so good. Cajun fries!

So, though my first 2 days of eat in challenge involved a cheat or two (though I didn’t technically buy food tonight…) I am reminding myself that it’s all in the journey. Hopefully going back to work this week will keep me too busy to have time for social eating out, since that seems to be the culprit.

If you want to participate in the Eat-In Challenge, check out the guidelines on Diana’s website!

Have something you adore? Leave a comment below, or email it to adore today at gmail dot com.

2011-Claiming the Tributaries

I’m a firm believer in New Year’s resolutions. I think it’s an amazing gift to be able to give yourself a day and a time to start fresh. Wipe the slate clean and begin again. I know a lot of people think that New Year’s resolutions are cliché and pointless because you quit within the first week, but maybe I can change their perspective.

I think one of the reasons I love resolutions is also one of the reasons I love teaching. I love that teaching gives you a starting and stopping point every year. I can’t imagine having a job that goes on and on and on, with no break, no beginning or end. Each school year feels like a race- every August you fire the starting pistol, and you know that you need to run your butt off until May, when you cross the finish line, with just enough recovery time to make it until August, when you start the race all over again.

So resolutions are the same way. Here we are on the first day of the first month of a new year. The starting pistol was fired last night at midnight, and we cheered on the start of another race to run with toasts, friends, loved ones, fireworks, and celebrations all over the world. We’ve all started running, and though many of us only have the goal to make it through another race, and many of us may set loftier goals that may get left in the wake of making in through another race, the hope is that this year won’t just be another year of “making it through.” And that’s what I want this year to be.

Let’s be frank. For many (and I would even say most) of us, the life we planned as kids and the life we are living now are very different. This really makes us feel like we are still waiting for life to start. And while we have been waiting, life, years, time, all of it, is passing us by. We graduated college, we found a job, we made friends and developed relationships that have allowed us to find out more of who we are. The thing we have to realize is that this is our life. And we’re already living it. It’s time to grab the bull by the horns and live life as fiercely, totally, confidently, and fully as we can.

One of my favorite stories in American history that I teach every year is the story of Le Salle’s expedition down the Mississippi from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico. When he finally made it to the end of the line and reached his destination, he claimed the Mississippi River for France. And as an afterthought, he decided to go ahead and claim all the Mississippi’s tributaries (rivers that feed into a bigger river). This afterthought decision ended up claiming most of present-day US for France, with tributaries stretching from the the Ohio River, Arkansas River, Missouri River, Snake River, and hundreds of their tributaries. If Le Salle hadn’t planted the flag, laid the claim to the territory, and taken a risk, France would have missed out on so much. (Can we say New Orleans?) Le Salle had no clue when he made that statement how much he was gaining for his country, and until Lewis and Clark (among others) explored the land 150 years later, no one realized just how much land there was out there.

As random as that connection may seem, I challenge you to make today the day you plant your flag. And more than that, make a bold, risk-taking, statement. Don’t just claim the river you’ve just finished floated on. Claim the tributaries. The land you haven’t explored yet. And then get out there and find out just how much you discovered.

So there’s my soapbox. My 2011 is going to be a year of living life intentionally, taking risks I’ve never taken, and choosing to be a better me. One that knows who I am in a way I didn’t know 10 years ago, at 16. One who wants to continue to discover more of who I am and who I was created to be. One who welcomes others, whoever those others may be, to join me on the journey and explore with me. And one who, on New Year’s Eve 2011, can cross the finish line out of breath, having given it my all, and celebrating not just the finish of another race, but a new PR.

See you at the finish line!

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End of 2010

Well, somehow the last 2 days flew by. How did that happen?

On Thursday I drove home from SA. It took 4 hours on the way down and 5 1/2 to come back. (Boo traffic.) When traffic looked like this:

I stayed glass half full by doing this:

(notice my new scarf I got from Charming Charlie?) As you can tell… I was bored. I choose to think it was a desire for positivity, not narcissism, that lead to the mini car photo-shoot.

While I was driving I ate:

and

 

After the drive home I had meetings Thursday and Friday for church stuff, I did laundry (hurriedly) and played with some of my new toys from my shopping excursion.

My new birds!

Latte made with my bodum milk frother (love it!)

And I even found the book I was looking for that I saw on Allie’s blog last week! Yay! Now all I need is my camera!

I’m participating in Diana’s eat-in challenge in order to save money for my camera and kick off 2011 healthier, so I had my last supper (er…..lunch) at Pei Wei before my meeting Friday.

And after my meeting I came home to get ready to celebrate New Year’s (or New Years?) with friends.

It started with Family Dinner at Rachel’s, Chorizo White Bean Kale Soup and homemade bread, and lots of good conversation. I know I say it a lot, but I am so blessed by these girls.

And then we headed over to Kathryn and Victoria’s for the celebration! Victoria had her DSLR and let me play with it all night, so bring on the good photos now!

Kathryn and I both have extensive Friends trivia knowledge, and though I always beat her at Friends Scene it, we both think she knows a bit more trivia and I have faster reflexes. So we did a trivia-off. Which totally reminded us of this episode! We each won a round, so I guess the champion will have to be determined another day.

We also somehow ended up taking pictures as super models, practicing our best smize.

We had a great time and rung in the new year right.

Hoping to have another post for you soon with all my New Year’s Resolutions (and I have a lot). Keep a look out for that!

 

2010 was an amazing year, and I’m looking forward to a lot of changes and a lot of excitement in 2011!  Happy New Year!

 

Have something you adore? Email it to adoretoday at gmail dot com or leave a comment below!