Thank God for ice storms.

I truly thought this weekend would break me. 

I didn't think I was going to be able to make it through this week because of it. 

I can't speak of all of the details, as it is still ongoing, but we will soon be enduring a very major custody battle of our 13 year old niece Natalie. 

A ridiculous breakdown of events happened this weekend, that led to the police being called once. To protect Nat from the two fighting parties, particularly the one who currently has custody, we had her a lot this weekend. 

I had already had a really long week, with no more than 6 hours of sleep each night. I was one tired lady.

I was supposed to do homework on saturday, but we ended up rushing out to get her a working phone, and then I had to go to work until midnight.

When I got home, Jamie and I stayed up brainstorming until almost 2AM what we could do to help, and because we were too stressed about it to sleep. 

Then we got up at 6 AM yesterday morning for church, and went and picked Natalie up beforehand. 

So, we had her all day, and then I had to work at 4, so I had literally no time for anything, including a nap, which was desperately needed. We kept Nat last night too, the poor thing slept on our couch.  Then again, with only 5 hours of sleep, I got up this morning and went to work for 9 hours, as my poor husband got up and drove her 30 minutes to school. 

The worst part about it all, worse than the sleep-deprivation migraine I had all day today, the tears I shed over stress for Nat, or the just plain feeling crappy, was the daunting, totally awful feeling that it didn't even matter that I got off at 5, I had a ridiculous amount of homework to do that would without a doubt keep me up until the wee hours of the morning, and had to get up at 6 AM tomorrow, and go to class all day. And then do more homework. And then do it again Wednesday, and then Thursday. 

I was praying all day, though the tears, through the pain in my back, feet, and head, for God to give me the strength to get through it.  To not let me quit. To keep me going, through the pain, to finish what I started, and be strong for both my niece and my husband.

And he did one better.

This ice storm may be a huge inconvenience for you, and I'm sorry about that.

But this ice storm cancelled school tomorrow.

Hallelujah.

Now, I can sleep tonight, spend the morning with my husband which is so DESPERATELY needed, and then have the whole afternoon and evening to do homework for Wednesday and Thursday.

This ice storm is truly an answered prayer. 

And I am so, so unbelievably thankful for it.

♥

Teavana...

I may or may not have dropped another $20 at Teavana today.

I mean, after all, it was on my way home, 

and I have been wanting to get a Green tea and a Mate tea, since they were the only ones I was missing.

thank goodness they were out of tins, or I would've ended up spending twice as much.

Here's what I got...

Raspberry Lemonade Riot Mate, and...

Blackberry Mojito Green

and last friday, when I had my gift cards, I got...

Peach Bloom Rooibos, and...

Snow Geisha White.

Yes, I am in Tea Heaven. 

But is it a mild obsession?

Probably.

Oh well, at least it's not designer shoes. 

♥

Weekend!!!

Cleaning like a maniac before work today. 

Friends are coming over tomorrow!

We are having a very belated Christmas dinner (as our first date was cancelled due to Emily's ACTUAL Christmas dinner.)

Very excited about this. 

But, our house sucks.

I'm also working on my unit for student teaching,

and it's going to be based on black history month.

I am learning so much about inner city schools already. 

I asked them if they had anything specific they wanted to learn about, and their response was:

"not slavery or dead guys, that's all we ever learn about."

I had never thought of it this way. 

But it's true. 

So, I spent about 2 hours yesterday looking up still living black men and women who had done something important or were heros of some kind. I found a famous neurosurgeon, first black man in space, first woman pilot to fly a fighter jet (that just happened last year, by the way), and the first black primary dancer for the NYC ballet (who went on to start the Harlem ballet company), among many more.

I am so excited about getting to share some positive cultural messages with these kids. 

I'm finally getting a view on what it's going to be like to be a teacher.  After all of these years of classes, and theory, it's finally here.

And I can't remember the last time I was this excited about something. 

It's without a doubt what I was meant to be. 

Oh, and I picked up my bridesmaid dress yesterday!

It's so gorgeous. 

I can't wait to show amanda tomorrow night!

It's been a good weekend so far. 

Which I desperately needed.

Glad it's here.

♥

Cold Sheets and Golden Globes

I thought I was going to bed, seeing as I have to be up at 6:30 AM, but, our sheets were in the dryer, and they were really cold, so I am heating them up. Yes they, are still in the dryer, I know, I'm slacking, just like they were here. 

Anyway, I have spent the entire evening looking through the dresses from the Golden Globes.

Misty, I'm sure you have been too, haha, so I thought I would post my Top Five Best, and Worst, Dresses of the evening, or at least that I have seen so far, while my sheets dry so I don't freeze to death tonight, and then we can compare. 

Yes, I'm aware this is silly and frivolous, but I can honestly and shamelessly say, I love dresses. 

So there.

Oh, and also, I have no copyright for these photos, I got them off Yahoo. 

So there, again.

Natalie Portman is always phenomenal. She didn't disappoint again tonight, and I love the fact that she slightly accents her baby bump. 

I love Helena Bonham Carter, and I have a great respect for her personality and self confidence, but really. Mismatched shoes for crying out loud? Whatever, Helena. 

While I think Megan Fox is possibly the worst actress in the world, I think this dress is fantastic. Just wish I had her legs for that lovely little slit.

Heidi Klum. Come on. You are a supermodel. Act like it. Platform chunk heels? And you let your husband leave the house in brown shoes with a black suit!

Leighton Meester, while I know your name, I have no idea what show/movie you are in. But, even though I know a lot of critics are going to be harsh about your dress, I love it. I think you look incredibly classy.

Jennifer Love Hewitt, most people try to find dresses that are flattering to their bodies. Just saying.

I respect Jane Lynch, her strength, and her sense of persona. I also think she cleans up rather nicely. 

Julianne Moore, you are in like 50 "B" movies at my store right now. Surely you could pool your money from those and buy more than 1/2 a plastic pink garbage bag?

Julianne Hough, I don't really know why you were at the golden globes, as you are a dancer attempting to turn singer, but I want your dress. Seriously.

And Rita Wilson, last (and maybe least), how many award shows have you been to? Can we start acting like we aren't a 20 something from the 90's?

Once again, it makes no difference to me whether they wear a garbage bag or a gorgeous gown. My life isn't altered. But, it is fun to dream, and pretend like it matters, sometimes. 

Lessens the things that do makes life tough.

♥

Turtle Trails Crisis, and some good eats.

I went grocery shopping today.

And... for the second week in a row...

THERE WAS NO TURTLE TRAILS ICE CREAM!!!

But...

not only was there not any there, and a big empty hole, like last week...

There was no hole!!

I am just going to tell myself that some poor, ignorant stock boy mistakenly filled the space where Turtle trails goes, with some other, lesser ice cream, and that it will be there next week. 

Because if I couldn't have this glorious, amazing, delicious, fantastic ice cream anymore....

I would die. Really. I think so.

On another, non-related note, I made a new stew for us tonight. 

I make something really large, that will last us a few days, on Sunday nights when I'm off, so we have something to eat throughout the week.

Well, Misty, I think I may have found a soup/stew substance that even your anti-soup husband can enjoy. For real.

Hearty Italian Lentil Soup

• 1 cup lentils
• 1 1/3 quarts water, divided
• 2/3 cup uncooked long grain white rice
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
• 3 tablespoons Italian bread crumbs
• salt, to taste
• ground black pepper, to taste
• 1 quart tomato sauce
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese for topping
• 
  
• Place lentils in a pot with 3 cups water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, and cook 20 minutes or until tender. Drain and set aside.
• Bring rice and 1 1/3 cup water to boil in a pot. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes.Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat. 
• In a bowl, combine the ground beef, beaten egg, garlic, 1 tablespoon Parmesan cheese, parsley, bread crumbs, salt, and pepper. Form ground beef mixture into 1 inch balls. Place meatballs in skillet and cook 5 minutes or until evenly brown.
• In a large pot, bring the tomato sauce and 4 cups water to a boil. Transfer the browned meatballs to the pot. Mix in cooked lentils and rice. Return to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer for 30 minutes. Sprinkle with remaining Parmesan cheese to serve.

Ta-da!

It was a bit hectic at first, because I put the lentils, rice, sauce/water on, and started the meatballs all at once, because it would have taken forever otherwise. 

It was also my first experience with meatballs, and other than being a little large, they turned out awesome. 

We ate it with Italian bread and butter, and some white Zinfindel (that was already open in our fridge).

It was delicious.

My one tweak for next time would be to use a garlic flavored tomato sauce, and add some parsley or something, because the sauce was a bit bland.

Other than that, it was fantastic.

Definitely looking forward to eating this all week.

See Misty, how could Tim not like a thick soup with meatballs?

♥

Quick break...

I'm taking a homework break.

Yep, this is the part of the semester when I actually try to do all of my reading.

Hah!

Well, this week has been crazy. 

The class part of my school sucks, that's to be expected.

But I met the students and teacher of the class I am to be student teaching in.

and it is Wonderful!

It's an ESL school, so they bus Hispanic students in from all over the city. 

I am a major minority in the school, let alone my class.

and I love it!

The kids were so fun, and I am so excited to learn from them.

And my teacher is amazing.

She has been at this same inner-city school for 9 years, and her class has ALWAYS had the highest I-STEP scores. Not to mention the fact that she has really high expectations for the kids, and they call her strict, but they all adore her. She's awesome.

I'm so excited to learn from her, and she seems really excited to be teaching us.

I couldn't have asked for a better placement.

I have missed Jamie a lot, it's been an adjustment. 

Plus the poor guy is sick, so he doesn't feel like doing anything.

Our house is falling apart, again.

When you are gone as much as we are, that tends to happen.

My goal for the day is to do homework in the morning, and clean in the afternoon, before work.

I am going to cook again tomorrow night. 

Last Sunday, I made a big batch of Corn and Lentil Soup.

I was going to do a blog about it, because it is a super cheap, easy recipe, and is really really good for you, and Jamie loves it, which is a good thing. 

But, we had a surprise intrusion visit from the in-laws.

After running out to the church so that Jamie could give Stephen a drum lesson (pretty excited about that, Misty) and then went grocery shopping, and when we got home for a nice quiet evening, they were outside of our house. Phone call would have been nice.

So, I hurried and put the soup on, while my mother-in-law cried for 10 minutes about her baby not coming to seeing her, and how she needed him.

My life is ridiculous sometimes. 

I was going to take a picture then, but I forgot, and then I tried to find one online, but none looked even remotely close to mine. Oh well.

And I baked four pieces of chicken, and we just ate them and the soup throughout the week. It was really nice!

I had an awesome "last hurrah" before school started last weekend!

I won a party at Howl, downtown, and it was a blast. Even some of my old friends from Ball State came! (And of course my IUPUI friends, as usual.)

(haha, poor Amanda. She doesn't take very good pictures at bars.)

It was a great way to end Christmas break.

I will leave you with this picture from this morning.

One, to show you how behind we are on housework. We forgot to put our bedclothes in the dryer last night, (okay, okay, I forgot) and we had to scrounge. These are the pink sheets I used at Ball State. haha!

And two, how cute Minnie looks when she sits like this, because she crosses her front paws. 

I love it.

♥

First tears of the semester.

Please join me in praying for a 2 hour delay for tomorrow. 

As much as I talk big about being brave and fearless,

I am terrified. 

I barely see my husband when I work 40 hours a week at Family Video.

After 6 weeks of intensive classwork, which will be bad enough,

I will be working 40 hours a week student teaching, and 40 hours a week at Family Video for 4 weeks.

And then 40 hours a week at school and 25 hours a week at Family Video for 4 weeks.

I don't know if I can do this.

I am dreading it, literally. 

I act pretty tough about it, but I have never wanted to quit anything more in my entire life.

I just want to have a life where I do more than work and sleep.

My mom keeps telling me it's just 2 semesters. 30 weeks, split up by a summer, so I should just do it, it will seem like nothing looking back.

But it doesn't seem like nothing now.

Class hasn't even started, and I've already cried once.

This is going to be a really, really long 15 weeks.

♥

Worst Customer Service... Ever.

I was required to get a county background check for my student teaching this semester.

To do this, I had to print the form, go to the country seat (danville), have it stamped, and then drive it to the IPS administration office downtown.

This is the interaction between myself and the lady working at the Sheriff's office, who we will further call the Sheriff's office lady, or SOL, as the alternate meaning for this acronym also describes her attitude.

[I walk in, there is only one visible window. So, I stop there. SOL looks up at me, catches my eye, and then goes back to her computer for nearly a full minute. I continue to wait.]

SOL: [finally coming to the window and looking annoyed] "I need your drivers license and five dollars."

Me: [taken aback] "...for a...background check?"

SOL: [more annoyed] "....yes."

Me: [trying to joke and break the tension]"Woah, you're good!"

SOL: [completely blank, annoyed, stare]

Me: "Oh, I'm sorry, all I have is a ten, do you have change?"

SOL: [looks at me like I am stupid]"...No."

Me: "Okay, well....I don't have any other bills."[nervous smile]

[awkward pause]

SOL: [deep, aggravated sigh] "Give me the ten."

Me: [wondering if I am out five bucks, hands her the ten through the slot in the glass]

SOL: [pulls out a WHOLE BAG OF CHANGE from the drawer.  Digs out five ones, and shoves them through the slot in the window, so that the air lifts them up, and i have to chase them like an idiot. Barely looks at the sheet, barely looks at the computer, stamps it, comes back, and shoves the form and my license through the slot. And. Walks. Away.]

Me: "Thank you!"

SOL: [ignores me]

She was either having a really bad day, or she has a miserable life, all of which is the fault of her own mentality. 

I mean really, it's almost laughable. 

Being someone who works in the customer service industry, and who takes great pride in how I treat my customers, it makes me sad that someone can hate life so much that she takes it out on complete strangers.

This is just another experience to remind me of why I continue to try and have a positive outlook about everything.

Because I don't want to be this woman in 20 years.

♥

The sick monster speaks..

Blogging while watching Ellen. 

It's a good morning. 

But, it's been kind of a crazy week.

This past friday, we took our kids to the vet.

What. A. Nightmare.

Seriously, how could these cute, sweet, adorable little faces...

Become such monsters!

It was so awful, the vet actually suggested that we "pre-medicate" next time.

As in drug them.

Yeah, that bad.

Minnie (yes, my 5 lb. baby) had to be muzzled, and they had to hold Emma down with a towel over her head. Awful.

But, at least they have their shots, and we don't have to do it again, for a year.

Thank goodness.

On a different note, my husband is an awesome handyman.

We have been wanting to put another counter in our kitchen, so I had more counter space. 

Because I have little to none. When I baked, I would use the stools of our breakfast table to mix on.

So, a few nights ago, Jamie put in our new counter! 

It's awesome, because we can use it like a bar as well, so we still have kitchen seating.

Yes, it's missing a stool in these pictures, I was using it as a table in the living room.

Also, he picked out our new washer and dryer, (because i work ALL the time) and he did a fabulous job. And, they came yesterday!

They are amazing and wonderful! 

They are high-efficiency, so good for the environment, and are practically twice as big as our old ones.

They have digital selection screens,

My dryer has a light in it, 

And it has lots of fun features, like spinning the washer once every hour to keep your clothes from mildewing if you can't get them out right away. 

Wonderful. Absolutely awesome.

On an crummy note, I have been sick.

Really really sick, again. I got a cold on Saturday night, and then yesterday, it was hideously awful.

My nose was running, I couldn't breathe, and it had moved into my eyes, so they were constantly running, and my nose was rudolph red, and painful.

And I still had to go in for a 9 hour shift. 

But, I was working so slow, and my boss, lord love him, came to help, and while he had good intentions, he added about 1 & 1/2 hours worth of things to do. 

It became an 11 hour shift. 

I was absolutely miserable. And then I got in trouble this morning by my other boss(ish), we're technically equals, but she has 4 years seniority, for having help come in.

Well great. Thanks for that.

Anyway, I didn't take a picture of myself, because it was hideous, but this is the sign I made for Jamie as I was falling asleep, hopped up on Nyquil.

We often make signs for each other, as we miss each other due to work, school, or sleep.

And yes, ladies and gentlemen. 

This is how I looked yesterday. At work, and at home.

It was so horrible.

But, today is a new day, and I slept for 12 hours, so I am feeling quite a bit better.

Thank goodness.

One last thing, I got my bridesmaid dress for Amanda's wedding!

It was a lot of fun.

She did what I did, picked color, length, and fabric, and then we picked the style. Here is the dress I picked!

I was the only one who picked a non-strapless dress. This is the sample, so it was a size to big, and was clipped in the back. 

Here is the dress in the right color, on the size 2 (barf) DB model.

I'm excited.

School starts next week.

Trying to enjoy my time as much as possible before that. 

Here we go.

♥