25 random things about me :)

i think i was officially the last person on facebook to do this survey. after reading and enjoying other people's lists, here is mine for the few people who read this but are not on facebook. :)
happy friday, friends. :)

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1. my pinkies are curved, like boomerangs. they amuse my husband.
2. my dad and i share the same birthday. (and even though i'm probably too old, we're going to disneyland for free to celebrate!)
3. i am in my third year of teaching first grade - and i think teaching little kiddos might stick. :)
4. almost every day for the last 2 and a half years, i have eaten a bagel, berry-ish yogurt, an apple and a diet coke for lunch. somehow, i'm not sick of it yet.
5. i love, love, love to do crossword puzzles...but can't always finish them, so i ask my smarty-pants husband for help. :)
6. i love to take recipes and tweak them to make them unique or work with what i have on hand...this only works about 75% of the time.
7. i love to wash the dishes - but hate to empty the dishwasher. luckily, my husband doesn't mind as much. :)
8. similarly, i love to do laundry and smell the dryer smell (my favorite!) - but i hate having to put the clothes away.
9. i'm bummed when matt has to go to korea for work - but i love being able to load up our netflix queue with all the girly stuff i want.
10. studying abroad in london was one of the best experiences i have ever had - great friendships, fun travels, amazing city.
11. i married my husband on our two year anniversary (which also happened to be mother's day).
12. i've always worn flats/low shoes because i was taller than most of my friends. having a 6'4" husband is helping me grow out of that.
13. serving with the people in children's ministry at fbcslo are some of my most fun memories of college.
14. i derive great joy and fulfillment from organizing and finding a place for everything in our house.
15. i have a ridiculous number of greeting cards (sorted and organized by content) that i have purchased throughout the years because i thought it was cute/funny and would be perfect to send to someone someday.
16. i love gummy bears. (i blame london and the constant presence of haribo)
17. i am a very heavy sleeper and have been known to sleep through both (yes...both!) of my alarms.
18. i love to read and have a growing stack of books to read, but i don't make enough time for it.
19. i get motivated to exercise...but then think about where should i run?, do i have time to shower?, is my ipod charged?...and i lose all momentum. :/
20. i wish i could speak spanish more fluently.
21. i have a black thumb and have 'successfully' killed the rose bushes, lilies and camellias that were alive when we moved into this house.
22. i'm eager to start a family...but am thankful to have a wonderful husband who keeps me in check and reminds me that babies cost money.
23. i am tickled by 'spring scape', the theme on my google homepage. mr. frog and lady bug are too cute - and yes, i named them. :)
24. my favorite color is orange. a student once told me that was not okay because i am a girl. um...is orange a boy color?
25. my life is infinitely blessed and full of hope. my God is good. :)

reasons why...

...i am smiling today. :)

first, and the major reason for my ear-to-ear grin, matt comes home tomorrow morning - after 20 days in korea. so excited to have him home and have a whole weekend of relaxing and enjoying being together again.

while having matt gone has been no picnic, having no work/school this week made it a little better. thanks to some of our former presidents, my district gives this whole week off.

because of the week off, i have had lots of free time. with this free time i have been able to:
*sleep in until i wasn't tired - nothing crazy, but being in bed at 8:30 feels like a luxury. :)
*read books (for fun!)
*watch lots of gilmore girls on dvd
*spend the weekend with my mom and dad - great concert, yummy meals, good wine, awesome displays of wii tennis
*hang out with some great friends - aimee, amy, nard-dog, sarah and andrea. :)
*make myself yummy (and fairly nutritious) meals
*listen to new music given to me by my hip dad - fleet foxes and the national are currently in constant rotation
*catch up on old podcasts that have been in my ipod for 6+ months (oops...), some of which made me laugh and cry in the same hour

needless to say, i am relaxed, happy and feeling pretty good. all i need now is my matthew, and it'll be perfection. :) well...almost perfection...i still need to clear matt's side of the bed after using it as my books/clothes/magazines/blanket holder. ;)

hope this weekend brings you plenty of things to smile about, friends. :)

one hundred days.

tomorrow marks the one-hundredth day of school for my little arbuckle scholars.
one hundred days of school...wow!
they are giddy about all things 100 (it is shouted with glee when we count to 100 daily).
and, to be honest, i am a little excited, too.
reaching 'milestones', even little ones like this, make me reflective and provide a perfect opportunity for me to observe and consider all that has happened.
honestly, these little kiddos never cease to amaze me.
one hundred {school} days ago...
...they were timid and shy.
...they knew the ABC's and some of the sounds.
...they could count to 30...maybe...on a good day.
...they knew thirty words by sight.
...they were completely dependent on me...for everything.
...they tattled like crazy.

tomorrow, one hundred {school} days later...
...they are vocal and familiar (mostly in a good way). ;)
...they know the ABC's, all of the sounds and some other things i throw in there to mess with them (you know, long vowels, diphthongs, digraphs, r-controlled vowels...the list goes on and on).
...they can count to 100...maybe...on a good day. :)
...they know at least 100 words by sight.
...they are becoming more and more independent (hooray for a precious few minutes of free time!)
...they still tattle like crazy (baby steps, right...).

at the beginning of every year, i am repeatedly shocked at what these students enter my classroom with...but i am even more shocked at how much they leave with on that last day of school. the hundredth day is past the halfway mark of the school year and it's hard to believe that in 80 {school} days, these kiddos will be moving down the hall to second grade.
sure, they make me crazy and question what the heck i'm doing some days. but all in all, they are amazing little people and i'm excited to celebrate 100 days of first grade fun with them tomorrow. :)

happy 100th day/wednesday, friends. :)