I'm Becoming Crafty

I'm going to make a bench. Yes a bench. And yes I said make...from scratch...I'll let you know how that goes...

Why??!!

Can you see my pictures? Because they keep coming up as little blue question marks. And. it's. annoying. me.

Help please! How do I change this??

Dreaming of Tea, Crepes, and GELATO!

In one month I will be here...

here...

Oh...and HERE...

And eating LOTS of this...

One month people...ONE MONTH!!!

To go with my last post...

My friends and I are obsessed with anything Keep Calm and Carry on. We have posters, bookmarks, bags, mugs (except for the fact that I broke mine :(...), and anything else that you can think of! If you haven't read the history of the Keep Calm and Carry On poster you really should. It makes it all the more fun! Here are some funny Keep Calm posters that made me giggle!

Don't know why they're so huge...can't figure out how to change it...this is bothering the perfectionist side of me...

Cheerio, mate!

Love, love, love...

Keep Calm and Carry On

Sorry for Slackin...

Actually I'm not sorry because student teaching is EXHAUSTING! Seriously...you try waking up at the butt crack of dawn and then entertaining 25 crazy kids who are WAY too energized at 7:45 am. I can't really complain though because I seriously love it, and I am going to miss my kiddos!

Here's a list of random things I have thought about this week:

1) I only have 2 weeks left of student teaching...HOLY COW!

2) I've officially started applying for jobs....not sure if I'm ready for this!

3) Tea is my savior...it has caffeine and it soothes my sore throat that has come back for the 4th time in the past month and a 1/2.

4) I'm really excited for Will and Kate's wedding (not you KJR...just kidding I'm excited for you and William's wedding as well! ;) Lifetime is coming out with a movie about their love story and heck ya I'm pumped for it!!!

5) Where is spring?!?!?

6) Girl Scout cookies are amazing

7) Orange nail polish is my new favorite. Thanks HD!

8) I can't think anymore because lately I can't think of anything else but my bed by 8 pm...

Here are 2 fun recipes that are super yummy (and yes they are Giada recipes...of course)

This is my all time favorite recipe! And if you went to Olivet you know it's my go to pizza. Super easy and oh so good!

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/arugula-ricotta-and-smoked-mozzarella-pizza-recipe/index.html

** I usually cheat and use pillsbury original pizza dough. You won't know the difference ;)

Just tried this recipe this past weekend. Mrs. Dillard and I apparently tried to get all of our friends drunk because woah it's strong! I would recommend using half the amount they tell you! And if you absolutely can't stand the taste of alcohol you could use almond extract as a substitute. It's still really, really, really good! Definitely fun and worth the extra effort! You'll be feeling good after a piece of this tiramisu...literally! ;)

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/lemon-hazelnut-tiramisu-recipe/index.html

This post was a quickie but a goodie! Tootles!

May Angels Lead You In...

Well I have been debating whether or not to write about this but decided it would be good to get my feelings out...

If you went to PCS or if you have been watching the news lately, chances are you've heard about Garrett. He was killed in a head on accident Wednesday when heading back to work after getting lunch. I didn't hear about the accident until Thursday night, and I don't think that it really sunk in until Sunday when I heard about the details of the accident from a friend who went to the visitation. They were able to have an open casket but my friend said it didn't look like him because his smile was missing.

If you knew Moo, you knew that he was always smiling and laughing. If there was ever an example of the phrase "life of the party" it would be Garrett. His nickname, along with Moo or Mooboy, was Goofy :) Some of my best high school memories involve him. He was a legend around PCS because he brought (or stole from a random house) Frosty the snowman. Frosty immediately became our basketball mascot. Goof would lead all of our cheers while hitting Frosty on the bleachers to make a drum noise. Although I haven't seen Moo in a few years it's definitely affected me. My last memory of him was at ICC. Whenever he would see me he'd walk up to me in his cowboy boots, throw his arm around me and walk me to wherever I was going to "protect me from all the weirdo's around there" (personally I think it was just an excuse to put his arm around a girl :).

Even though we're all in shock by his accident, I know that God has a plan. I also think that we can learn a lot from Goof. He knew how to live (maybe a little too much at times :) Life is too short to let it pass by. We need to celebrate our lives and have FUN! Our life is a gift from God and we should cherish it!

We also need to love. I never want the people in my life to not know that I love them. So this is my little note to tell you that YOU MEAN THE WORLD TO ME!

This past weekend I was able to spend time with my friends at Olivet. It was perfect. I miss you guys so much! I love you and I thank God for putting you in my life! We have made so many memories that I will cherish for the rest of my life. I can't wait to make more! :)

And to all my high school girls: words can not describe how much you mean to me! I've loved seeing how you have grown and seeing God's plan unfold in your lives. Most people don't stay as close to their high school friends as we have, and that proves that our friendship is special. I LOVE YOU!

And to my family: Thank you for helping me grow up into the person I am today. I could not have done it without you! I love you guys and I thank God every day for you! I am truly blessed.

And thank you Moo for all the laughs, stories, and wonderful high school memories. Some of these weddings this summer won't be the same without you! We will miss you!

On a happier note. One of my students was working hard on a center project. She was getting a little frustrated with the glue and she said, " CURSE YOU SILLY GLUE!!!"

I love you my darlings (this was not intended to sound creepy... but unfortunately it came out that way...)

When it comes to epic fails I take the cake

So I was helping my mom clean the other day (Never again, mom. Never again.). I'm a good little cleaner, and I was almost done.

And then it happened...

I was vacuuming the dinning room rug (I had already dusted and everything) and my vacuum EXPLODED. The bag blew up, and the front of the vacuum came shooting off. Dust flew everywhere. I mean there were HUGE dust bunnies shooting into the air like fuzzy bombs. I couldn't see across the room because the dust was so thick in the air. For once I'm not being dramatic... this is literally what it looked like! I had to open the front door to air the room out! When I finally got the vacuum turned off, I was covered from head to toe(yuck)...and so was everything else. The chandelier was covered. The dinning room table was covered. The dishes on the hutch were covered. EVERYTHING was covered. It was ridiculous. I should have taken a picture to show you guys but I was a little bit peeved at the time, and not thinking straight. So I had to fix the vacuum, re-dust everything, and sweep the floor again.

Can we all say it together: EPIC FAIL!!! I wish that I could say that these things don't happen to me often but unfortunately they do...

Maybe after this my mom won't trust me again with the cleaning... worth a try! :)

Love is in the air

In the spirit of Valentine's Day I have some cute Kindergarten stories for you:

1) Each week we talk about a different letter. We talk about what sound it makes, how to write it, how many words we can think of that start with it, etc.

Last week the letter was K. We were doing a K Web (thinking of words that start with K) and one little girl said "kiss." Cue the Kindergarten giggles. Amongst the giggles we hear a little boy voice sing (in perfect tune) "Every Kiss begins with K" Can we say adorable and funny?? I couldn't hold back my own giggles!! So cute!

2) Yesterday I was talking to a couple girls in my class. One of them asked me if I "bought a husband yet." I had to laugh at this! If only it were that easy! :)

And here are a couple bonus stories for you! I have this boy in my class, Michael, who is just adorable. He has the cutest little laugh and he wears shark gloves. Seriously, they have sharp looking teeth, a fin and everything (and of course they try to eat everybody in the classroom! :). Michael is also ridiculously silly. I'm sure you'll be hearing lots of stories about this one. So here they are:

1) Yesterday we went on a fieldtrip to Wild Life Prairie Park to meet Gerty the groundhog (more on that later). On the way back to school we drove over those white lines that are before a stop sign. You know, the ones that make your car vibrate and make that obnoxious sound to make sure you slow down.

Well as soon as the bus went over them, Michael starts cracking up. He says, "Hahaha the bus farted! Haha! Why would the bus fart?! The bus farted! Hahaha!"

I honestly didn't even know what to say besides "Oh Michael, you are so silly." (Wish you could have heard his funny little voice. This story doesn't do it justice!)

2) This is a quicky but it shows Michael's humor a little more. Today we were doing a Valentine's Day art project and it was time to get ready to go home. I told Michael (who wasn't even halfway done with his yet...of course) to hurry up because he needed to start packing up. He looks down at his artwork and grabs the glue saying, "Alright...it's time to bring out the big guns!!"

Happy Valentine's Day Week!

Oh...and the "big guns" didn't get the job done. We're finishing it together tomorrow. :)

It happened today...

I missed my long hair today. I knew this day would come. Actually, I'm surprised it didn't come sooner. I love my short hair, but today I wanted to do something different then just a boring ponytail. Like a hip bun or a fishtail braid. Or do some dramatic curls...ya like I have time to do any of those looks at 6 am in the morning (not to mention being awake enough to actually make it look good). But there's something about knowing that I COULD do it if I wanted to get up at 5:30 instead of 6.

So Hair:

Grow, grow, grow, grow, groooooow, grow, grow, grow, grow, GROW!!! Please?

Ok, thanks for letting me dramatic. Tomorrow I'll probably love my short hair, but for now I'm just going to sulk. And if you have any tricks to help hair grow faster let me know! Like some kind of secret vitamin that magically makes my hair grow 1/2 an inch every night... wishful thinking...

On a different note, here's the White Bean Chicken Chili recipe I promised. It was fabulous, if I do say so myself! Perfect for these cold days. I heard this report on the radio this morning: Temperature is -4 and it feels like -19. Really weatherman??! Really? I'm blaming you for this even though I know it's not your fault. You're only the messenger. But can I just say it again: REALLY??!!?? I'm so over winter.

Thanks for letting me be dramatic...again. Here's the recipe.

I didn't use the Swiss Chard because, frankly, I have no idea what that is.

Stay warm, darlings!

Learning Ballet in my Living Room

I love dancing. I always have.

I haven't taken a dance class in a long time and I am CRAVING it! My cousin and I have taken classes together such as a tap/jazz class (it was straight out of High School Musical and I loved every minute of it!). Now I would like to relearn Ballet. Unfortunately, we're both trying to save money (That's hard to believe I know. I'm trying. I really, really am!). Did I mention that I'm going to London, Paris and Rome in May? Oh I did? Well I need some mullah for our inevitable shopping trips. I mean come on, we're going to Paris! The city of shopping! (Or maybe it's the city of lights. Tomato, tamoto.)

So our ballet class will have to wait till this summer. (I'm shedding a tear just thinking about it) But then I received (thanks Ang!) one of the most challenging and fun workout programs that I have done in a long time. It's called the New York City Ballet The Complete Workout. It is actual dancers from the actual New York City ballet, and they are doing moves that they actually do everyday to workout their muscles and get them ready to dance. (I said actual 3 times so you better believe me when I say they are real dancers!)

And oh does it work! It not only tones and tightens my muscles but it's FUN! It has definitely helped me to get out some of my desires to dance. (For now!) And the best part is... I don't even have to leave my living room!

If your dancing feet are wiggling from the thought of this, then you need to check it out! I found both disk 1 and 2 on half.com for $20.93. If you're not a dancer or if you don't like dancing then this DVD is probably not the best workout for you. Also, if you're looking to loose weight then you would need to do this along with something else. But if you're looking to tone up then this is perfect! It seriously tones everything from your legs and bum to your arms and core.

Just call me the Black Swan...on second thought I'd rather be the White Swan if that's ok?

Happy dancing, loves!

Audrey Addict

Hello my name is Laura and I'm addicted to Audrey Hepburn. But I mean who doesn't love this girl??

I'm completely obsessed (hence the reason for my blog title). I guess you can blame it on a deprived childhood. I was never exposed to the classics. Ok so I'm most likely the one to blame for this. I was the one yelling, "Momma put on Sesame Street!!!" My little cousin on the other hand is obsessed with the classics (she's 4 by the way). She loves all things Julie Andrews at the moment. Who needs Disney when you can have Julie singing to you on a beautiful hillside??

So now I'm drinking in as many classics as I can from An Affair to Remember to Funny Girl(another one of my all time favorites. I could watch it twice in one day...maybe even three times! Sing it Barbara, sing it!)

Now back to Audrey. This past week I've watched Roman Holiday, My Fair Lady, Breakfast at Tiffany's, and Funny Face. Besides Breakfast at Tiffany's does anyone notice a theme?? If you know your Hepburn movies then you know that these movies take place in Rome (obviously), London, and Paris. Which just happens to be the 3 places that I will be traveling in 3 months! I could not be more excited!! My cousin (my travel buddy) and I plan to reenact all the pictures from Roman Holiday. Eating Gelato on the Spanish steps is the first picture on our agenda.

Now if only we could find some handsome young gents to show us around the cities like Audrey did...hmm...

If you need some Audrey Hepburn/Paris inspiration check out these adorable dresses at The Shabby Apple

Next movie on my agenda: Sabrina!

Who doesn't like free stuff??

I have some fun freebies for you lovelies!

I am such a fan of The Yellow House. Cierra is a cute little mommy who posts a new picture everyday (sometimes of her cubby cheeked son named Cash). She also gives away free stuff now and then. That's where this post comes in. I was looking through some old freebies and found these lovely prints that you can download or print off for free. The picture below is my computer background, and I'm planning on printing off the other ones to frame. Thought they were appropriate for Valentines Day. Enjoy!

http://theyellowhouse365.blogspot.com/2011/01/for-you_25.html

Baby, it's cold outside

What I love about a Snow Day:

1) Not setting an alarm

2) Watching the blizzard going on outside my window while I'm cuddled up in a nice warm blanket

3) The smell of White Bean and Chicken Chili simmering on the stove

4) Staying in my pajamas all day (I literally mean all day...these babies aren't comin off)

5) Watching Funny Face

6) Actually having time to read

7) Vanilla Caramel Truffle tea

8) Going for a snowy walk with momma at our farm

9) Doing absolutely nothing all day (that's the best...)

Happy Snow Day everyone!

Love of my life...

So I decided to join the world of blogs. I'm a little late in this fad, and I never thought I would actually have the desire to start one (or that anyone would actually be interested in reading my posts! Humor me ok??). But low and behold here I am! An official blogger, with an official (and might I say pretty) blog page! I'm still working out the kinks but I'm still pretty proud of myself!

So why am I joining the blogosphere might you ask? Well here are my reasons:

1. I am officially back at home and I need something to do with my time. Aka I'm bored tonight.

2. I have so many random thoughts going through my head that I need a creative outlet to let these thoughts out!

3. It seems like something fun and somewhat productive to do (again humor me on this one...I must admit that there are a zillion other things that I should be doing. A basket of laundry is calling to me upstairs just waiting to be folded...sounds fun right? Another reason why I'm writing this blog).

4. And most importantly I know that all of you are so interested in my life that you need updates 24/7...right??! :)

So there you have it folks! My 4 very convincing reasons as to why I MUST start this blog. (At least they were convincing enough for me!)

A friend of mine is addicted to blogs (you know who you are) and she is another reason why I'm starting this. She has gotten me addicted to some of the same sites. Instead of planning lessons, doing homework, sleeping, eating, or doing anything else productive, I have found myself wasting countless hours online. Ok... so this might be an exaggeration, but I have come to love my daily visits to my fashion, food, and design blogs. I hope to share some of my favorite posts with you. What fashion is inspiring. What recipes I cook this week (I plan to make some yummy white bean chicken chili tomorrow...doesn't that just sound lovely on a snow day?? Recipe will be posted soon!), and I might just throw in a funny story here and there. Trust me I have tons of Kindergarten stories to share already!

So with all that said let the blogging begin!!!

Did you think that was the end of the post? Hah! Weren't you wrong! (I told you I have a lot to say!)

I have a quick Kindergarten story to share with you which I know you will find hilarious! Since Valentines Day is coming up we did a writing activity where the kids had to write who they loved and why. This is what Sam wrote...

I love Zoe because she's the love of my life. (Mind you he was very serious and read this to me with a love sick tone of voice.)

Oh Sam...if you only knew...

Tootles!