Oops...

Let's face it, people.

I'm sure you were all taking bets on how long it would be before I missed a day. 

3 days.

I intended to blog, but crashed on the couch during the 11 PM news and woke up when my husband got home at 1AM.

Oh well. 

A double posting today, then.

Yesterday, I was thankful for...

Misty.

I got to chat with my good friend last night after way to long.

Our lives are pretty hectic, so it was really nice.  

We have been friends for several years, 

and even though she lives in Chicago now, 

I still consider her very close.

We share many interests, and always have awesome and interesting conversations.

I am looking forward to seeing her again (whenever that may be)

and I am so excited for her little man to get here in February! =D

And today, I'm thankful for...

Music.

The Civil Wars concert is finally here!

I'm so pumped, I've had my tickets since August.  

Music is a very important part of my life, and I'm thankful for that.

It's truly been a summer of music for us. 

We saw Amos Lee, 

Ray Lamontagne, 

and now the Civil Wars.

Three of my all-time favorites.

Man, i love Music.

♥

Mail that makes me happy...

Civil Wars Tickets and Mother Earth News Magazine.

Heck. Yes.

♥

Sweet Summer Nights...

Had such an amazing time at the Ray Concert.

We got a late start, because I had to work, so we grabbed some Panera (yum!) and walked to White River, stopping at the government building to scarf our food.

 White River is such a wonderful venue, there really wasn't a bad seat. They also provided chairs, which I thought was really cool.

And, we couldn't have asked for a better, more beautiful night for a concert.

 I was so excited that The Secret Sisters opened for them!

I love them, and they are so wonderful live.

 Jamie is not really a fan, but he stuck it out for me. 

 hahaha, he loves me. 

Then Brandi Carlile came out.

And she. was. awesome. 

I am totally going to get her CD. 

And then the wonderful Ray came out.

He was such a great performer, and incredibly gracious as well.

After the concert we went to Steak and Shake with some of Jamie's friends from work who were also at the concert. 

It was an incredibly fun night, and I would love to see him again.

♥

This weekend...

Had a garage sale this weekend. 

It was kind of a surprise, all of the sudden, on wednesday, a sign went up for "Community garage sale, this saturday!"

Oh hey, thanks for the notice!

So we threw some stuff together.  

We were even hauling stuff out of the attic the day of the sale.

I didn't have high hopes for the sale.

But, I was wrong. 

we actually made $50!!!

We are going to use it as mad money, and save it for when we want to do something on a whim.

Which makes me super excited. 

On a sad note, yesterday, I lost one of my favorite earrings.

and not just lost it. 

It quite literally fell out of my ear as I bent over to pick something off of the floor...

and it fell into the toilet.

Yep. Seriously. 

I tried to get it (the water was clean)

But it was gone. 

way gone. 

I am super, super bummed about this. 

These were some of my favorites.

I wear them all the time.

Ugh. 

Just my luck.

Good news, however, is that we are going to see 

Ray Lamontagne

tomorrow night!!

It's going to be an awesome time, even though I have to work the whole morning. (long, complicated work story.)

Looking forward to spending a night with husband, listening to some great music!

♥

Things that make my heart happy.

Even with all of the really awful stuff mentioned in my last post that has been happening, I have been really thankful that it is spring break.  

It has giving me a great chance to relax, have a little fun, and deal with things a little more calmly. 

Here are some things that have really helped me, and made me smile again.

Getting to go to church.

Eating out with my love. It's killing my calorie counting, but it's oh so worth it.

Going to concerts. Amos Lee was so great.

Planning to go to concerts. Ray Lamontagne, here we come! July 14th!

Planning our summer getaways. Chicago and the Carolinas, we're headed your way. 

Getting to sleep in. This has been wonderful.

Getting to just hang out with my friends. Can't wait for Saturday!

Finding out that my friend Emily will live 5 houses down from me this next year. Awesome!

Shopping. Always good.

And, taking a risk and making a change, that totally payed off!

Love my new haircut!

Let's just hope that the week continues to be good. 

I need it.

And here's hoping that I can get all of this stuff figured out, with a little help from upstairs.

♥

I believe in the power of Love.

What a weekend.

I'll start with the good. 

Last night we went to the Amos Lee concert.

It. was. great!

I Love Amos Lee. His music is very soothing to me. 

And I love my husband even more, and being with him, while listening to that music,

was so, so good for my soul.

Unfortunately, the cold that I have been fighting to avoid for almost two weeks came on in full force. So, I was very busy feeling like crap and blowing my nose during the show, but it was still awesome. That cold has not subsided, so needless to say I still feel like crap.

But my world has also been rocked in a major way.

To make a very long story short, my class portion of the semester is a separate grade from my student teaching portion of the semester, and while my student teaching is going amazingly, (not sure if that is a real word, but oh well) and I have an awesome grade, my professor has told me that she doesn't feel I have done well enough to currently pass the class portion, due to one bad paper and two papers that were not turned in on time (only one of which was my responsibility).  With only four weeks left to fix it. And unfortunately she's not being very proactive about helping me fix it. 

So, there is a good chance I may have to retake this semester. 

I cried all day Thursday and all day Friday.

This completely turns my life upside down, and pushes off all of the plans I had. 

And on top of that, I have never failed at anything. Ever. And especially not at something related to the one thing I feel I'm meant to do. 

I feel like such a loser, and really stupid. 

I know I shouldn't, because I know that I am capable, and this is just a setback, and I really am meant to be a teacher. 

But this is very hard on me, not just because of all the work I've done, but because my self-confidence has received a huge blow.

I told Jamie I just want to quit. And there is a part of me that does. 

He won't let me. And I know there would be a long line of people behind him to kick my butt if I did.

I'm just not sure what to do now.

How do you rebuild confidence after something like this?

If you know, please share it with me. 

Because I'm going to need some help.

I'll leave you with an Amos Lee song that I love, and that lifts my heart when I hear it.
It's been helping.

I just wish my seat had been this close. =)

♥

"Windows are rolled down.."

Sorry to have neglected you, friends. 

This is how I know my life is too busy: I have been trying to find time to blog since Thursday. And it's Sunday. Seriously.

I'm going to regret this tomorrow, I can already tell, because I have to work 8-6. But, I need my me time, and this appears to be the only time I can get it. 

As Jamie says "I'll sleep when I'm dead."

Hahaha, that reassures me on the nights when I only get 4 hours of sleep. Not. 

You all remember my post about the amazing, awesome, wonderful ice storm right?

Well, that wonderful storm got me an entire week off of school. A WHOLE WEEK. 

It was amazing.

This is what I did for those three days. 

By the end of my three days, I was starting to feel kind of lazy, so I did the dishes and some laundry. And then I watched more movies. 

I guess I am just a person who needs my down time.

It was awesome.

I also got to spend those mornings with Jamie, which was wonderful. He didn't have class either. We slept in, and cuddled, and then made breakfast, and then hungout. We haven't done that practically since summer.

I will say that by being out of school, there were some problems caused at work, because even though the schools were shut down, they expected people to brave the weather and come in even though they weren't scheduled. It created a mess, but hopefully the worst is over. Hopefully.

Then yesterday, I worked until 4, and then we picked up Natalie and took her shopping at the mall.  She bought some hats at Hot Topic, and we just hung out. It was nice to spend time with her, and she needs all of the support and positive influencing that she can get right now. 

Then we went out to dinner with my whole immediate family (which is amazing in itself, because we all work ridiculous schedules) to congratulate my little sister and her new fiance. We took Nat along, and I think she enjoyed it. She spent the night with us last night, and we took her to church this morning with us, which is definitely good for her. 

I also found out that my friend CJ is coming home for a whole month on April 9th!!! I am so excited about this, I can't wait to see him. 

He has been one of my best friends for many years (this is a picture of us in high school) and I am so excited to get to actually see him in person, instead of through skype. He has lived in Pensacola for the last year because he's in the Navy, and at the end of the month, he'll be transfered to North Carolina for three years.

And, more good news, we are going to see Amos Lee in concert at the end of March!! 

I bought our tickets and his new CD last night! I now have all four, and I love them all.

I haven't been to a concert in a while, I am really excited about this one. 

If you are interested in hearing his first release from the new album,

Click Here.

I love it.

So hopefully, with all of these positives, and after a refreshing week, I can survive this next one.

Hopefully.

♥ 

weekend in a nutshell...

Had a really nice weekend.

Definitely not wanting it to end. 

Thursday I went out with my friend Emily from class and her roommate Karin.  

We went to my favorite, Howl at the Moon!

We had a really good time, even though we left pretty early because we are all lame and had to work in the morning. 

Friday night I was supposed to go see Trampled by Turtles, 

but...

Amanda ended up spending the day with her mom instead, so I had no one to go with,

and, to be honest, I really needed a night to just stay home.

So, that's what I did. 

I hung out.

and it was glorious.

I'm sad I missed them, but oh well.

Saturday was our family reunion on the Blankenship side,

and Michael, Ben, and Carrie came up!

They are my family that live in South Carolina, and they only come up once a year for the reunion.

They are so fun, and Jamie and I are talking about taking a trip down there to see them,

maybe this summer.

Then we went to the Eric Johnson and Andy McKee concert.

 I thought Eric was boring, but Andy rocked.

He is one of Jamie's favorites.

Today, after work, we went and had dinner with my parents.

and of course, 

Dexter.

Oh my goodness, how I love that dog.

He is literally like a spoiled kid brother.

Excited to see Misty this week!
We are having a tea date, as usual, and i am sure we will swap plenty of crappy customer stories, as well.

Been missing my husband a lot, again.

This weekend was great though, there were a lot of nights where we got to go to bed at the same time, and just talk. We don't get that very much right now.

I love him.

Staying positive, and loving my (busy) life.

♥

If you're wondering if I want you to...I want you to!

Can't help but love this Weezer song.

Been listening to it all day.

This is the first time since FRIDAY morning that i haven't been working, at school, doing homework, or sleeping.

My life is crazy!

Jamie and I spent this past weekend in Rockville with his brother's youth group at a youth retreat.

It was a lot of fun, the only lame thing was that i took the wrong day off of work, and I had to leave at midnight, and drive an hour and a half. I got there at 1:40 AM. It sucked.

But, other than that it was a blast, and on a gorgeous property! The kids were really great,  I am so bummed that i didn't think to take pictures.

Monday was my first official day of Assistant Manager training!

It went well, but it was a lot. 

I did my first interview, and I think I did a pretty good job!

I was really nervous, though.

Friday my wonderful husband took me to Teavana after his class!

I got a new black tea, and it is amazing.

Peach-Cran Tango!

It's delicious, and I love it.

I also got a new Yoga video!

I am really excited about it, and so far the routines have been really great!

It has routines for morning to energize, and evening to relax.

Minnie has been quite a character this week. 

Jamie accidentally left the linen closet open overnight, and when I got up the next morning, this is where I found her!

Such a silly girl I love her!

I have a busy weekend ahead of me!

Tonight:

Howl at the Moon with Emily (and maybe Amanda!)

This is my favorite bar in the world, if you have never been to one, go!

Tomorrow:

Work all morning, and then

Trampled by Turtles in concert at Birdy's!!

Going with Amanda (and maybe Emily!)

So excited that they are in Indy!

And Saturday:

Family Reunion and then

Andy McKee and Eric Johnson in concert!

My husband is super excited about this one!

And, dinner with my parents on Sunday after work!

It's going to be crazy, but at least it will be crazy and something that I enjoy!

Well, hopefully I will be able to post again sometime before next year.

♥