Life Update…

Wow. I think this may be the longest I have gone without posting on the blog, but between teaching and grad school life has been VERY busy. Time to get everyone caught up on what has been going on and of course I will do it by sharing lots of pictures.

Luke Bryan Concert with Karen (January) 

Luke Bryan was incredible!!! I was a little bummed we were in the nose bleeds, but he was amazing even from the very top. It was nice to have Karen in town too! It is so weird that we all live in different towns now. She got to see my apartment for the first time.

Spontaneous trip to the beach 

Amanda, Abbey, and I headed over to the condo Saturday morning because I had to take my LAST teacher test so that I could graduate with my Masters degree. We were treated to a gorgeous sunset, but unfortunately the weather was a little chilly. That did not stop me from jumping in the ocean! I think I was so glad to be DONE with those tests, that the cold water did not even bother me.

had a blast at Stella’s Second Circus themed Birthday party! 

Daisy is such an amazing mom. She had EVERYTHING a circus themed birthday party would need. Stella had a blast jumping on the bounce house and painting with friends.

saw Wicked at the Bob Carr (still obsessed) 

This was a Christmas present, and I had never seen Wicked before so I was very excited about it…I have to admit it exceeded my expectations. We had amazing seats at the Bob Carr and the actors/actresses were SO incredibly talented. I would be lying if I said I have not been singing along with the soundtrack in the shower…probably driving my roommate and neighbors up the wall!

All dressed up for the SMM Auction with my lovely co-workers! 

Ahh! I can’t even begin to explain how blessed I am to work with these ladies. They are the sweetest, kindest, people ever. It makes going to work a lot more fun when you have friends to hang out with during breaks! This night would not have been as much fun had it not been for these ladies. I am counting down the days until our beach trip over Spring Break!!!

Winter Park Art Festival with Caitlin! 

The Winter Park Art Festival is one of my favorite events of the year. I am not a big fan of ART, but I love how they close Park Avenue to traffic, and you can just stroll down the street people watching…plus the sidewalk sales don’t hurt either!

There you have it, a very quick life update! I am pretty impressed that I summed almost 3 months into so few pictures. As I said, my life has pretty much been in the classroom, so my next post will be sharing some of the super fun things we have been doing in Second Grade!!!

Smiling in Second Grade: Teaching Update

Well, I survived the FIRST half of my FIRST year of teaching. I have been loving my job. Teaching just keeps getting better and better. I keep discovering new fun activities to try in the classroom. I love having the freedom to choose whatever I want to do with my students as long as I meet the standards. This is one of the perks of working at a private school…no pacing guide! I thought I would share some of the fun activities and learning that has been happening in my classroom! I wish I could share pictures of my wonderful class with y’all, but unfortunately that would be a big privacy issue (and to be completely honest I would not want someone posting pictures of my kids on their blog).

We started the new year off talking about Resolutions. One of the best things of spending every day with 21 second graders? They hold you accountable! On my example I said one of my goals was to learn how to knit…and everyday they ask me if I have learned yet! I found this idea on Teachers Pay Teacher (if you have not visited this site…go there now it is awesome). I actually put two activities together to make this and I love how this worked.

Math is HANDS DOWN my least favorite subject to teach (but don’t tell my kids that!) I try and make it fun by using math manipulatives like these foam shapes. My goal for the rest of this year is to find ways to make math more fun for the kids and me!

Probably the most delicious science experiment ever…Rootbeer Float Matter. We used this to show the three different states of matter. The ice cream represented solids, the rootbeer was liquid, and the foam was gas. The kids did really great identifying the different states of matter, plus they weren’t complaining about getting to eat the yummy treat.

Shape a Story, the students used shapes to create stories. This went along with math and writing. We are learning geometry. The students were all very creative when putting these together.

and we will end with my FAVORITE quote for the classroom. Painted this onto a piece of wood and hung it in the classroom.

 

 

Back in the Swing of Things…

Well…winter break was wonderful while it lasted, but now I am back in the swing of things. This week had been full of EARLY mornings and report cards! Oh…and I am also taking my LAST two courses for grad school, while teaching full time…fun times! I am still adjusting to the early wake up…and I might possibly be going to be earlier than my students… embarrassing but necessary! 21 second graders + graduate courses +report cards= one tired Sara!

One of the most wonderful things about being a teacher is being able to have these great breaks. Seriously, I needed a break! I love my class and I love my school…but sometimes you just need a few days to relax. That is EXACTLY what I did over break! I got to spend sometime at the beach with a few great friends (who also happen to be teachers and have breaks still).

The girls posing 

Karen had bubbles! Needless to say we had LOTS of fun

Trying to get a shot surrounded by bubbles…hilarious

The Girls at Dinner!

As much as I loved having the days to relax it was nice to be welcomed back by lots and lots of hugs from my favorite second graders! The only downside was those darn report cards…no fun! I still can’t believe it is already JANUARY! Craziness!

Bucket List Update!

Here is all I crossed off the bucket list this year! I am looking forward to crossing more things off this coming year…

22. See ALL of Central Park…okay I did not technically see ALL of Central Park but I got pretty darn close. I think Amanda and I spent a good four hours exploring the park. It was hands down one of my favorite places in the city.

34. Appear on the TODAY Show…again not sure if I actually appeared on the show but the camera definitely got all up in my face so CHECK!

40. Be someone’s confirmation sponsor…I was EC’s sponsor this past year and I am already set to be C’s sponsor next year! No picture of this.

69. Pack my bags and set off to a random place. One weekend at the beginning of the year Biffle and I packed our bags and set off on a spontaneous trip to Atlanta for the weekend. It was unexpected and incredibly fun!

104. Have Breakfast at Tiffany’s …this was a fun one! I thought Amanda was going to make so much fun of me when I told her my request…to be fair there were several other people doing the SAME thing!

Looking Back on the Year 2012…

Confession time…I am NOT one of those New Year New You people. I personally think the idea of waiting for ONE day to change your life is a little ridiculous…in my opinion you can make a change any time you want to! My favorite part of a New Year, is looking back and reflecting on all I accomplished during the year. So how did 2012 go for Sara? I have to say it was a pretty fabulous year!

I checked SEVERAL things off my bucket list…

A post will follow with more details!

I met my Goodreads Reading Challenge…

I read THIRTY books to reach my goal set at the beginning of the year. This may not seem like a big deal, but let me tell you I am PROUD of reaching this goal. Last year I only read 17 books! I discovered a lot of great books this year, including some very lengthy series (A Song of Ice and Fire). You can check out all the books I read on my Goodreads page.

See look how far I have come! (This shows the number of pages read in a year!) 

I traveled to some new exciting places, and a few old but still wonderful places…

I went to New York City for the FIRST time and fell in love with it. I did not think I would love it as much as I did, but I am already planning my next trip back. Central Park and the NY Public Library were my favorite sights, but due to the fact that I only had a day to explore…there was a lot of NYC left unseen!

Playing with the leaves in Central Park 

We went back to the Abacos on our family vacation. Despite some really, excuse my language, crappy weather we had a great time. We got a close up interaction with a beautiful green sea turtle (my favorite animal!).

I visited Natalie in Philadelphia and got a whirlwind tour of the city she now calls home!

LOVE Park 

We visited our friends in Naples, FL where I got to Paddle board for the first time!

Beautiful Naples Sunset 

I entered the Real World…with a job! 

Classroom at the VERY beginning…it has come a long way!

After graduating in December, I completed my internship with the same class I did my pre-internship with and loved every second of it. Then I spent the summer taking grad classes. I am always astounded by how the world works…I was blessed with an opportunity I could not turn down…I was lucky enough to get my DREAM job teaching second grade at a Catholic school in my hometown. While I teach I am also finishing up my Masters degree. My class is the sweetest, and the staff at my school is wonderful. I truly feel I am following the path God planned for me. I also moved into my very first grown up apartment with a great friend from elementary school!

and I have been blessed with my health, and the health and safety of my loved ones.

Family in the Abacos 

There are definitely areas of my life I would like to see develop more in 2013, but I can’t complain too much I had a pretty incredible year…and I am loving the path I am on. I hope you all had an amazing 2012 and I wish you the VERY best for 2013!

Sara in the City Part Two (Philadelphia)

Philadelphia meant I was FINALLY reunited with my roommates from college. Natalie is currently living in the city and taking classes at Temple. This picture was taken with my new toy (gopro camera) on Nat’s fire escape!! Philadelphia is such an interesting town. Everywhere we walked we were surrounded by history. One minute there are modern building and the next thing you see is Independence Hall! I love how small this big city felt. We were able to walk everywhere we wanted to go, and for this my feet were very grateful! Again, apologizing in advance for the crazy amount of pictures!!

We could not have asked for a more beautiful day

Independence Hall

Liberty Bell 

LOVE Park at Christmas Time 

And the entire point of this incredible trip was to celebrate the marriage of Rich and Kay! They had a BEAUTIFUL ceremony at the church where Rich’s parents were married, and the reception was held in the coolest building. I loved all the decorations they had, everything looked perfect!

Everyone from WP!

 

 

 

 

Sara in the City Part One (New York City)

This past weekend I was quite the little traveler! It is safe to say my feet hate me, and I am completely exhausted…but it was totally worth it. I FINALLY got to visit New York City! This is something I have wanted to do since 7th grade. Unfortunately, I had less than 24 hours to explore the city. I flew in Thursday night at ten pm. I stayed with Amanda’s brother Matt who is a freshman at Columbia.The whole point of this trip was a wedding! The wedding was in Philadelphia, so I decided to explore NYC before hand. Amanda gave me quite the tour of the city, and we walked ALL over the place. Brace yourselves for LOTS and LOTS of pictures, including SUPER touristy pictures!

Amanda and I rocking our colorful pants at Columbia 

Crossing #104 off my Bucket List- Breakfast at Tiffany’s 

Times Square at 1 AM 

Snow on the ground in Central Park 

Geeking out at the TODAY Show

the bridge I HAD to see in Central Park 

Of course this Florida girl had to play in the leaves!

New York City Public Library…my favorite building in the entire city! 

Empire State Building 

See…I told you it was a very jam packed day. There is so much of the city I still need to see! My next post will include photos from one day adventure in Philadelphia…plus some wedding pictures!!

Happily Ever After

Okay…I officially feel old! I went to my first wedding (not counting the ones when I was little) and it made me realize I am technically a “grown up” now. To be fair it was my G-Big and she is a few years older than me. The wedding was in St. Pete on the beach and it was absolutely beautiful. My G-Big Stacey looked GORGEOUS!

Sassy Sisters

Okay…that was probably my favorite picture from the entire weekend! Here is another silly one from before the wedding. We had to utilize our waiting time!!

Mixed-Up Line

As I mentioned, the wedding was on the beach. The thought of getting married always makes me nervous…especially in Florida. On my drive over it POURED and I said a lot of prayer in the car! In my mind it should NEVER ever rain on a wedding day…that is the Bride’s day and everything should go smoothly! (optimist?) Thankfully, the sun was shining and the sky was the most incredible shade of blue. The ceremony was short and sweet.

Big was a bridesmaid!

After the ceremony Little and I made Blake (Big’s Boyfriend) be our personal photographer…

The reception was a lot of fun! They played a TON of music from the 80′s…so needless to say I was JAMMING OUT! You bet I busted out my air guitar…multiple times throughout the night. I loved seeing how happy my G-Big was all night long. She is just now starting a new chapter of her life and I wish her all the best.

Life Update

Despite my crazy work schedule, and the fact that I have a real world job now, I have been finding time to have some fun.

Rocking the side pony and red lipstick!

Labor Day weekend  I was able to go down to West Palm Beach for a much needed girls weekend with Karen and Sarah. I hadn’t seen them in SO long. It was really nice to be able to spend time out on the boat soaking up some sun. I am sad to say we didn’t take too many pictures. Karen brought Sarah and I to her friends 80′s themed birthday party. 4 years in a sorority prepared me for throwing together an outfit out of the things in my suitcase. The party was so well done, and they had a REAL Polaroid camera. This result in a Sara geek out moment…plus several Polaroid pictures.

Polaroid Fun 

I am not sure if you remember but a few months ago I posted about my newest music obsession Ed Sheeran. I am still obsessed, and I was devastated to learn that his Orlando concert was sold out (the only one in Florida). I decided to take a chance and enter a few radio contests the local stations were hosting…and I WON! I still can’t believe it. I won a PRIVATE concert at the radio station.

Is this real life?

Ed Sheeran was INCREDIBLE live. Amanda came with me and we both agreed the true test of a singer’s musical talent is their ability to sing live. Ed only played three songs, but they were flawless. He is British too, which means he has a British accent!! (random, but I am obsessed with all things British right now).

Before the concert the radio guys had us a write down questions for Ed and he answered mine! Weirdest thing he has ever seen in America, which turned into weirdest thing he has ever seen, which led to a very hilarious answer said with a British accent. Oh…and did I mention we got a picture with him!?!

So, I may have a “big girl” job that leaves me absolutely exhausted during the week…but I am not letting that keep me from having a good time!

Pink Out Winter Park 2012

Tags

breast cancer, florida, pink out, winter park

Flamingos are flocking to Pink Out Winter Park

Last year I posted about an amazing thing my town does to create awareness about Breast Cancer. It is called Pink Out Winter Park. Several shops and restaurants are joining together and embracing the color pink to raise money and awareness to fight Breast Cancer. Last year I was stuck in Gainesville and unable to participate, but this year I am all over this event.

Love this father/son shot!

To kick-off the two month long event I attended a HUGE record breaking event.

Record Breakers

The town came together to break the Guinness World Record of standing like a Flamingo for over 2 minutes (still not sure who set this record previously)…but we broke it!!! Over 2,000 people showed up to join together and BREAK this record.

WE DID IT!

Check out the city’s Pink Out Winter Park website for details about every event occurring this month. Don’t forget to buy a flamingo!! $10 gets a flamingo for your yard, and one placed in Central Park.