Spring Break with a Little Kung Fu on the Side

Spring Break!! The past 9 days have been OH so glorious! My original plan was to crack down and get lots of work done over break. We have Kindergarten Round-Up next week and lots of new things starting down in Kindergarten. So surely I could get a bunch accomplished with 9 days free of my little critters. Well that was all good in the theory right.....I had the best of intentions really, but I made the decision I "needed" a new toy. In comes my NEW NOOK! I LOVE LOVE it! I was glued to the thing for a good portion of my break, finished a book and started a new one! My thought is I will get tons of use out of it this summer laying by the pool! (The thought of summer vacation gets me all warm and fuzzy inside!)

The majority of my week off was spent in my pajamas watching BRAVO....I turned into a huge Bravo junky over break! They had a RHW of New York marathon on and I may or may not have DVR'd almost the entire season. (That's what breaks are for right??)

I did go shopping in KC one day with my friend Molly and it was a complete bust. I mean honestly how is it possible that one can go to not 1 but 2 malls and not find a single item to purchase!!! I was ready to drop some $ if yeah know what I mean, I was in the market for fun new spring & summer dresses/clothes. We were both a little more than irritated with the situation and finally went to Kansas Sampler (something we have at home...which is also irritating) and bought some new KU gear. (Don't even get me started on the heart break I felt when the Hawks lost...it was a sad day!) So after a big BUST is KC we stopped through in lawrence I treated myself to a new pair of TOMS.

Molly and I attempted to make PIMP CUPS for all the girls....I mean they turned out cute from a distance. Read Molly's post about our great experience making these suckers. I wanted to scream multiple times as the bling slid down the side of the cup. (I did NOT have much patience at this point, haha) I'm ready to have another go at it though, summer is around the corner and I think us girls need some fancy cups as we sit pool side and for BBQ's!

Today at school we had a Pep Assembly to get our 3rd, 4th and 5th graders pumped for the State Assessments. I pitched the idea of having a pep assembly to my principal thinking she would probably say No....but she thought it was a great idea and told me a should head it up. haha I was more than happy and excited to plan it and head up the event! We haven't had a "FUN" assembly this year and I thought it would be a great way to kinda be silly and have some fun before all the serious tests start for the older kids. When I student taught last year my cousin was the Instructional Coach at the school I was at and headed up the schools Pep Assembly that was Kung Fu Panda themed (it was great!!). I emailed her and asked if she still had any of her stuff from last year, because I thought it was such a cute idea and she emailed me everything. So I didn't have the whole design aspect to worry about, I just needed the rest of the staff on board with the idea...haha Here are some pictures of today's event....I apologize for the dark pictures, the gym and my camera did not get along today.  

My two besties at work....Kick'n it Panda Style!!

That lovely crane in front would be my principal...she was great!

The whole Cast....They did such a great job and were great sports! The kids LOVED IT!

Here's me leading everyone in all the chants and cheers!

Praying Mantis....We had an awesome Mom from our school make all of the costumes! Everyone looked great!

Each character from the movie had a test-taking strategy to teach the kids....so each time a new animal came out we learned a new chant to go along with that test-taking strategy. The kids had a blast and I think the staff all had a great time with it and definitely got into character! I am so thankful to work with such great people! It was a fun 1st day back from break!

Holiday's and Chopping

So about a month ago I decided I needed my hair trimmed badly...I mean it needed some serious attention. My hair was down my back super super long. I had grown quiet attached to my hair and I LOVE long hair. But I thought well I wonder how much I need to donate it. I just mentioned it to my friend Grace (who cuts my hair) and she grabbed the ruler. I then randomly decide.....SURE why not! Go ahead and take 12 inches off my hair! So She did! I may or may not have been taking some serious deep breaths through the entire process. It was my first time donating to Locks of Love and I'm SO glad that I did it! I had plenty of hair to give and it was just in time for spring. It's just hair right?! So I went from this....

To my picture with the cake.... I don't know why I didn't take proper before and after shots. Maybe it was the fact that I decided on a whim to do it in the first place. haha


I also realized I hadn't updated on how my rainbow cake turned out for our St. Patrick's Day celebration in Kindergarten. I think it turned out pretty great for the first time attempting it! I had one cake turn out better then the other, but we ate that one first so I didn't get a picture of it. I was too bust serving the critters to snap a few shots. Here are some shots of all the festivities!

Not the biggest fan of this picture but it's the only one I have of my new do!

I didn't get to it fast enough, I know it doesn't look the prettiest here. But you get the picture!

My other half at school...Tiffany! (She was not too pleased with this great photo opportunity either)

I just really enjoy everything that's going on in this photo....Welcome to my world! haha

Spring Blog Swap!!

I got my Blog Swap package today!!! Just in time to link up with Molly and Aly to show all my goodies! I LOVE LOVE all of the fun spring things I received from the fabulous Rebekah over at Life With The Edwards. I have had such a great time getting to know this lovely lady through the swap and her blog. Here are all my goodies...

The scarf is SO cute and springy...it's really cool too! It's double layered with different patterns and it's super light (love the color btw). I can't wait to bust it out perhaps tomorrow on my shopping trip to K.C.! I'm obsessed with Forever 21 and heart these earrings....I probably would have picked the same ones out myself. I couldn't have asked for a better partner! Thanks so much Rebekah for all my fun springy stuff, you definitely got me ready for warm weather! I've had such a great time getting involved with the swap and reading all the girls links! Happy Spring Everyone!!

The Waiting Game

I feel like I'm in a good place right now....other than the strong desire and need to get out of my parents house!! I am currently in the saving process right now and am crossing my fingers that I can be a home owner in the near future. Finding a house in my price range (home girl isn't bringing home a huge stash being a teacher) in a neighborhood I like isn't the easiest. I sure don't want to live alone in the ghetto and I sometimes feel like that's all I keep finding. (not that I have anything against those parts of town, I would just prefer not living in a place I might get shot.) Anyways, moving on....So the search for my first home is still on! I will give ya'll updates when the purchasing process grows closer!


I finally have a job doing something that I'm passionate about and love! I was blessed by getting hired at the last minute in August and work with an amazing woman! I honestly couldn't have dreamed or thought of a better working relationship with this girl. We get along SO well and have really made Kindergarten at our school OURS! We were both hired on the same day and so we started out on an even playing field which was scary and exciting at the same time. We felt like we had no idea what we were doing in the beginning, but now are more excited then ever for next year. We are currently planning Kindergarten Round-Up....(SO exciting) We're going with a Hollywood theme and can't wait to get it all planned and meet the new little critters. We love our situation, but I always have in the back of my head that we don't work for the school...but the district. They could up and move us or not renew our contract if they feel like it. I can't imagine not working with this specific group of people, it just clicks! Our district is changing things and it looks like we're going to have a lot of movement in the near future....I'm crossing my fingers & toes and sending tons of prayers up that our little bubble isn't affected for at least another year. 


I go through my up's and down's with the fact that I'm going to be 25 this year and am still SINGLE. I definitely thought that my life was going to look significantly different at this point. I am perfectly okay with the fact that I haven't found Mr. Right yet, I trust that God has a plan for my life and it just isn't time yet. It doesn't change the fact that I feel alone sometimes and wish/ hope for those pieces to fit faster. I introduced my friends before....but I have been blessed with some amazing people in my life. "The Group" if you will....is made up of people I've been friends with for a long time. We've celebrated together the bridal showers, weddings, baby showers, births, new jobs, life....the list goes on and on. I love these people so dearly and it's not a big deal that I'm the only single person in the group. I know that they don't care and have never treated me differently or not included me....it's more me and my own insecurities that get the best of me sometimes. I could go months and months with not feeling weird or down about being single, but then I have that off week where it's like BOOM... I feel alone and think what the crap! I just don't want to end up living my life feeling like this picture....

I want to be green someday! It's my favorite color! haha

 I realized last year that I wasn't enjoying the season of life that I'm currently in, I was always wanting to skip ahead and get the marriage and kids part. I have really worked on enjoying the Here and Now...and I feel like I have learned a TON about myself over this past year. I have done a lot of soul searching and worked on myself which I didn't think was necessary before. I started dating a guy (not dating this person currently) around the time school started and realized that I had never really dealt with some of my emotions from a past relationship (That'll be a whole other post in itself). I had/have some emotional scars/ hurt left from this particular relationship that have kept me pretty closed off to any new ones forming. I had this huge revelation that if I didn't deal with this hurt that it was going to be pretty hard to move forward with any future relationships. So I faced the hurt and pain head on, and I know that it isn't something that is just going poof go away. But I have the ability now to realize why I feel the way I do and tools to try and change it. So FINALLY after years of being alone and caring around all this emotional baggage...I feel like I am in a good place with myself and am actually open to meeting someone! That's pretty huge if I do say so myself! haha

So here I am dealing with the understanding that my timing and God's timing are two different things. I'm thinking that God's timing is so much sweeter than mine would have ever been anyways, even if the waiting time is unknown. So I turn it all over to him the Creator and am just along for the ride. House, Job, Love....the 3 things that have brought stress to my heart lately. Now I sit at his feet and listen for him to guide my way and know that he will always love me. His Love is sweet! (Love this video...speaks so much truth about God's Love for us.)


Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

Some St. Patty's Flavor & Day 15

So I feel like I have completely dropped the ball on classroom parties this year in my classroom. I skipped out and went to New York for the Halloween one, decided Christmas was going to be low key and felt the same way about Valentine's Day. Some people may or may not use the words "Party Pooper" when describing my feelings on parties. So I made a decision today (2 days before St. Patrick's Day)....that I needed to kick it into gear and bust some Irish loving, green wearing, rainbow coloring, searching for gold and leprechauns Shindig in Kindergarten! In all my last minute preparations I also made the AWESOME choice of making not 1 but 2 Rainbow Layered Cakes.....(this is what I'm shooting for)

I currently have the blue, red, orange and green layers baked and cooling! I will do yellow and violet tomorrow and then assemble my works of art! Hopefully I remember to take pictures of all this craziness....then we can compare my cakes to this gorgeous one above. I'm crossing my fingers that I can pull all this off in basically just 1 day. I had a teacher point out to me that I was wearing green today....I stinking wore my ONLY dressy green shirt today. I'm not sure what I was thinking this morning (maybe I just need to go shopping to increase my amount of dressy green shirts....haha) Promise pictures of all the festivities to come!


On another note, Day 15....I have seriously been slacking on my Blog Link Party (my apologizes).....But today's was simple (Things I want to do before I die), I'm kind of a travel junky so I pick TRAVEL. Not that I get to travel many places very often, but I want to go everywhere!! Currently I have a couple places I've been obsessing/drooling over lately that I would LOVE to visit....


Greece (I mean look at it, who wouldn't want to go) I'm thinking when I meet the man of my dreams and get married this would be a fabulous honeymoon destination. Or if Mr. Right continues to be MIA....I'm thinking girls trip!!

Africa.....still haven't decided exactly where in Africa I want to travel to, I just know I want to go. 

I want to go and climb Machu Picchu!!! I know it sounds super random, but for those of you that have read A Million Miles In A Thousand Years.....you understand. 

Those are all my big trips that I want to go on in the near future. I'm always down for traveling domestically, not that I can afford it on a teachers salary. 


A girl can dream right!?

Weekend Update

Weekend Update....I had a wonderful relaxing weekend with friends and my dog. My parents were out of town this weekend (yes I live at home currently, I'm working on that situation) so I was in charge of the dog.

 Candy our dog is getting to be rather old and it's starting to show....her back legs are not working anymore. The days of walking on all fours are officially gone and it breaks my heart seeing her scoot around everywhere. We've had her since I was in Elementary school, so I know the day is approaching where she isn't going to be around.
       
Anyways, she has a routine and I try to stick with it when my parents are gone. I had a huge brain fart....I mean MONDO....I had her sleeping in my room and she kept whining/crying. I figured she just wanted to go sleep in my parents room since that is what she normally does, so I open my bedroom door thinking she'd walk into my parents room and go to bed. That is not at ALL what happened. I few minutes later I hear a bunch of loud noises.....I JUMP out of bed and run in the hallway. SHE FELL DOWN THE STAIRS....the dog whose back legs don't work decided she wanted to head downstairs on a nighttime stroll. Oh goodness I felt SO bad/ was thinking what in the world dog did you think was going to happen. Regardless she was shaken up, I was shaken up and I had a hard time going back to sleep after that. I thought of every worst case scenario....the dog having internal bleeding, dying in her sleep, breaking a front leg....if it was bad I probably thought of it happening. 
         
Woke up the next morning and she was fine....aside from the dirty looks I swear she was giving me.  That was my drama for the weekend....other than my lapse of judgement opening the door I had a great weekend. I watched some basketball! KU won the Big 12 Championship, Holla!! I was proud to be a Jayhawk this weekend! They Rock Chalked it!! I can't wait for March Madness to officially start!

 Went shopping on Saturday (always fun!) and grabbed some good deals! Here's one of the dresses I got from Charlotte Russe, I'm excited to bust it out this spring/summer....

I also picked up all my items for the Spring Swap! I am so excited about all the things I got my partner and can't wait for her to get the package....I'm crossing my fingers she likes it all!

The week ahead.....St. Patty's Day!!! I'm very excited about St. Patty's day, green is my favorite color and I can't wait to bust it out this week. The week is usually spring break, but they pushed spring break back a week so unfortunately I'll be at school missing the parade. I am excited to celebrate the holiday with my class though...I bought a bunch of St. Patrick's Day books to read to the little critters this week. If anyone has any cute craft ideas for the holiday send them my way! I'm always looking for a cute fun craft to do with them. After this week is over we have SPRING BREAK!!! Can't wait for a week off....have no idea what I'm going to do with my week yet! The possibilities are endless!

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Day 9~

Day 9 of the blog challenge~ Show a picture of someone that has gotten you through the most! Well it my true Ashley fashion I can't just choose one person. I feel like I have a whole posse (am I a member of a rap group...haha) of people that have helped me through it all. I have a wonderful group of friends and family members that are my rock! I can't picture my life without these people and I am so very thankful to have them in my life. So here's my posse...

Ahh my family! I love these people more than I can say really!

These are the fabulous people I volunteer with at church. We all work with the youth group and have a great time together. I consider these people family!

Hannah and Lynsay! 2 loves of my life! Lynsay (on the right) and I have been BFF's since 7th grade.

This is only part of the group....if I could Photoshop Sheena and Tracy in I would. Some amazing women, mommy's and friends  that I love dearly!

These are two of my favorite ladies...Ashlee and I met Alli through the School of Ed. I seriously don't know how I would have gotten through school without these girls!

Bringing it back old school! Love this girl so so much!!

This is a glimpse at my life and the people that are in it! I am so blessed to have a great support system of people in my life.
Happy Wednesday night to you all! I know it was a little late in the day, I was out sick and slept for most of it. BUT....I did blog 2 days in a row. I'm stepping up my game! Holla... 

Day 8.....and a little Camp Barnabas

Day 8....I know I skipped a couple days. I promise I know how to count! Today's task was an easy one for me, I have so many pictures that make me laugh it's hard to choose. I'm not one for taking a bunch of nice, sweet pictures when I'm on vacation or just in general. I think the best photographs are the candid/ funny ones! So here is goes, you know me I can't just choose one.....

This is one of my best friends Carrie from it seems like ages ago...We had an I Love the 80's night at youth group (Holla). I think we achieved the look!

Oh Hannah, this is one of my roommates from college. We had just gotten home from the midnight showing of Harry Potter.     (As you can see we were a little amped from the movie and used her conducting stick as a wand.)

I studied abroad in Italy one summer....this is me and some of my School of Ed. girls trying to make a museum outing a little more fun. 

Camp Barnabas (more on this below) This is Kent one of the campers in my cabin a couple years ago. I turned around to find Kent wearing a King of Hearts costume and him also holding the Queen's outfit. He then asked me if I would be his Queen....never heard that one before. haha

Another one of my all time besties and roommate from college Lynsay. Photobooth is a great way to procrastinate from studying. Enough Said.


These are just a few of many pictures that make me laugh and warm my heart. I have some amazing friends that love to laugh as much as I do!


Onto another topic that has been on my heart lately...Camp Barnabas! Check out the video before you continue reading.  I know it's kind of long but it shows exactly what camps about. If you cry easily you may or may not want to have tissues on hand. It's good stuff though I promise!



I've posted before about this wonderful place, but it has more recently been on my mind and heart. I've been going to camp for a number of years now and worked on staff last summer. It was exactly where I needed to be last summer and was crossing my fingers that I could swing it again. But, I've been praying over my decision for a couple months now and decided that with work (school) it's just not the place God wants me to be this summer. I am faithful in the Lord and in the choices I've made, it was still a hard decision! My sister is going to be working all summer at camp and it's going to be strange not sharing that experience again with her this summer.

My words don't do this place justice (why I posted the videos), the amount of joy my heart feels for this place is abundant. It's inspiring working with a group of people all working towards the same goal, making the week AWESOME for the campers! I love what this place does for the campers that come...they get to experience a week where a disability doesn't define them. They get to be a kid like everyone else! It's a beautiful thing watching someone be themselves and have no worries. That is what Camp brings to these wonderful individuals. 


As a youth leader I was able to look at camp from a different perspective. I brought our youth group and watched their lives transform in a week. It was a hard and tiring week both physically and emotionally. It's hard selling camp to teenagers at first....but this is the end result once they take that step of faith! (This is a video of our group that I made for Camp Sunday at church. We shared this video with our congregation and some of the teenagers gave testimonies.)

"For the Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to save you. He takes great delight in you and quiets you with his love. And he will rejoice over you in song. 
Zephaniah 3:17
This is one of my all time favorite songs that is sung at camp...

Day 5....I Know I'm Behind!!

I have not been keeping up with the blog challenge....the last couple of days have been super busy. As you can see I have a new look....which took me ALL afternoon and evening. I'm not exaggerating when I say I just finished around midnight, I'm new to all the design business and I had a hard time deciding what I liked. I decided to change the title of my blog to EveryDay Blessings....I just felt like I needed something new and this name speaks so true. I have SO much to be thankful for and God has blessed my life in so many ways. (Stay tuned for more on this)

Anyways, on to Day 6....My Favorite Memory! This was hard because I have so many wonderful memories, the one that's sticking out the most is the day KU won the National Championship. It was a glorious day and the week leading up to it was one of the greatest times I had in college. I remember watching the game with my roommates and the second we won....we sprinted out of the apartment and ran down to Mass. St. (on the way we saw a naked man running down the middle of the street) I had never experienced anything like it before, people were EVERYWHERE and it seemed like the party was never going to end. It was a GREAT day to be a Jayhawk!!