If you fall I will catch you, I'll be waiting...time after time

I can hear fireworks :) It means that 4th of July is coming! I love fireworks...they are just so gorgeous and they light up the sky.  My day was pretty successful.  I was able to get my resume and the essay done today while sitting on the back deck :)  It was so gorgeous today and studying just couldn't happen on a gorgeous day like today.  "The Voice" finale was tonight and my favorite singer won: Javier!  Due to the gorgeous weather and great mood I was in I was able to work out twice today!  Well...I have a voice lesson and a very special birthday for my cousin tomorrow :)

Top 5 for the day:

1. Perfectly timed e-mails :)

2. "The Voice" finale with wonderful performances

3. "Just Dance" this morning and a wonderful speed walk this afternoon for a work out

4. Sitting on the back deck enjoying the wonderful weather 

5. Finishing my Montclair application :)

Under Pressure!

So I'm currently watching "The Voice" and am hoping to stay up to see the whole thing!  It's the last live performance...next week will be the announcement of the winner.  This is such a busy week.  I just got back to my apartment today and just feel like I am non-stop.  I have to study as much as possible for my GRE test next Wednesday but I also have a voice lesson to teach this week and my cousin's birthday!  Not so sure if I'm going to make it to the pool party for youth group tomorrow.

Top 5 for the day:
1. Finally getting more right answers than wrong in one of the Verbal sections
2. Talking to a certain someone all day :)
3. Making beef casserole for dinner :)
4. Painting my nails and feeling pretty :)
5. Seeing Needmore's new photo for their promo stuff :)

I just wanna dance!

This was such a great day.  My laundry got done today and I'm staying an extra night at my parents house. The highlight of the day was waking up and hanging out with Garrett, TJ, and Mark...the Needmore band :)  I am so proud of my brother and all that his band has been doing.  They have some great songs coming out and can't wait to see them again :)

Top 5 from today:
1. Shopping with Mom to get an awesome new wallet  :)
2. Hearing all about my brother's plans for the next few months.
3. Seeing my brother for the first time since the end of March :)
4. Talking and hanging out with the Needmore band :)
5. Being able to give my brother a hug goodbye as he left for a flight back to Nashville

TJ, Jackie (the hair stylist), Garrett, and Mark before leaving for their photo shoot.

I am someone worth dying for...

This has been a wonderful weekend.  It was nice to spend some time with family this weekend along with seeing a really great friend get married.  I really love weddings, this one was bittersweet.  I've known the groom for a long time and love him like a brother.  It was great to see him so happy, but some reason I had mixed emotions.  I don't know why.  The plus side is that I get to meet my brother's bandmates for the first time tonight/tomorrow morning.  They were down in Atlantic City performing during the Dave Matthews Band Caravan Tour.  I'm looking forward to meeting them and hearing all their stories.  Well it's almost video chat date time :)

Top 5 for Friday:
1. Late night phone calls :)
2. Going out for dinner with my cousins, aunt, uncle, and grandparents.
3. Watching my cousins try on my heels (makes for a good laugh)
4. Spending time with family I don't get to see very often.
5. Taking my time and getting ready in the morning

Top 5 for Saturday:
1. Seeing a great friend marry the love of his life
2. Having an awesome date :)
3. Spending a little time catching up with a great mom :)
4. Reminiscing about old times :)
5. Making up a story and someone actually believing me and my date :)

Top 5 for Sunday:
1. Spending a few hours with my aunt, uncle, and cousins before I left.
2. Seeing the rest of my extended family for a birthday celebration :)
3. Being able to sit and relax outside :)
4. Feeling the excitement of seeing my brother for the 1st time in a few months!
5. Having a video chat date :)

Here are some pictures from the wedding :)

Adam and Erica

The presentation of Mr. and Mrs. Adam Heebner!

Being artsy with the centerpiece, place card, and candy

Adam and his mom dancing

Me and my awesome date after a great night :)

Oh you make me smile :)

It was such a rainy stormy day all day.  I was able to run to the elementary school (due to me reading my texts wrong haha) to pick up some things from my mailbox..and found a very interesting book that I just passed on to another teacher hah.  Most of the day I hung out with a great friend and played catch up/watch a movie.  I did a little studying and realized...I am not good at any of the sections on the GRE test.  Looks like a lot of studying will be on the list for the next week and a half.  Well...tomorrow I leave for PA for Adam's wedding and I get to see my brother after the wedding for the first time in about 3 months :)

Top 5 for the day:
1. Movie/talking with a good friend :)
2. Having a relaxing morning :)
3. Having a fairly clean apartment :)
4. Trying on my outfit and loving it for Saturday :)
5. Staying nice and cool on a very humid day :)

Somewhere only we know...

Got some things done today :) I was able to study a little bit (realizing I really need to focus a lot on pretty much EVERY aspect of the test).  I also finished reading "Something Borrowed" and am looking forward to seeing the movie.  I'm also looking forward to reading more books this summer just for fun :)

Top 5 for the day:
1. Waking up and finishing "Something Borrowed".
2. Phone conversation with my best from HS
3. Cleaning out my teacher bag
4. Looking forward to the weekend :)
5. Watching movies all night :)

Here are some pictures from the wedding this past weekend:

Me and Caitlyn in the limo on the way to the reception

The delicious 'Smore cake :)

The bride and groom :)

Me and Christy...the soon-to-be bride

The Sinfonia guys serenading the bride and her bridesmaids

The happy couple..Jen and Dwight 

Ellen, me, and Caitlyn in the elevator on the way to decorate the newlywed's door

Me and Jen at the end of the night :)

You stay the same through the ages...Your love never changes

The first official day of summer has been a great one.  I got my hair cut and even learned how to curl it to get it look good for the 2nd wedding this summer this weekend!  I still have yet to unpack and it's already after midnight, but who cares...it's summer :)  I can't stop reading "Something Borrowed" and am looking forward to a girl's afternoon with Jenna this week!

Top 5 for Tuesday:
1. Skype date that lasts a few hours and not worrying about time :)
2. Loving my new hair look with the waves :)
3. Almost finishing "Something Borrowed"
4. Setting up voice lessons for the summer :)
5. Relaxing in my apartment which feels like home :)

New hairstyle I'm hoping to keep up with :)

You make me feel like I'm living a teenage dream...

Well today being the first full day for me for summer it was very productive.  I picked up two new summer reading books, got my car washed, and studied for the GREs.  Overall this has been a very good day and I am just enjoying my summer :)

Top 5 for the day:
1. Starting to read "Something Borrowed".
2. Studying for the GREs and knowing I can pass certain sections :)
3. Talking all day to a certain someone :)
4. Sleeping in
5. "The Bachelorette"

Oh you make me smile :)

This has been a wonderful weekend.  Friday I had my end of the year faculty meeting to end the year and then drove out to PA for a wonderful wedding.  It was finally Jen and Dwight's wedding weekend.  Friday was the rehearsal dinner and it was so nice to spend time with the couple without a large group of people before the wedding.  The wedding was absolutely gorgeous and we all had a lot of fun at the reception.  It was fun to spend time with college friends and catch up.  Today was Father's Day and I surprised my Dad because he didn't know I was coming home!  We just hung out at the house and went to Longhorn Steakhouse for dinner.  I'm excited to not have to do school work and focus on getting some grad school application and essays done.

Top 5 for Friday:
1. No traffic for driving.
2. Spending time with Christy before the rehearsal dinner.
3. Jen and Dwight's Rehearsal dinner.
4. Up until early morning hours on Friday due to a date on Thursday night :)
5. Spending the night talking with the bridesmaids and the bride :)

Top 5 for Saturday:
1. Getting our hair done as a bridal party :)
2. Secret door decorating with the bridesmaids :)
3. The wedding :)
4. Seeing friends from college after a few months of not seeing them
5. Spending the night with my lovely fellow bridesmaids

Top 5 for Sunday:
1. Seeing my brother on Facetime
2. No traffic on the way home :)
3. Spending time with the family for Father's Day
4. Out to dinner for Father's Day
5. Knowing I don't have any work to do until August :)

What if your blessings come through raindrops..

Today was a great last full day of school.  I got a chance to the see the 4th grade students "promote" to middle school, see 8th graders for the last time, and spend some time with the 1st and 4th graders at a fun activity afternoon.  I got my nails done with Gina today and it was a good girls afternoon out to end this year :)

Top 5 for the day:
1. Presents and cards from students (some of them made me cry)
2. Girl time with Gina getting our nails done :)
3. Having a final number for choir for now :)
4. Seeing my 8th grade girls for the last time before graduation and having fun singing their song :)
5. End of the year video at the middle school and hearing the kids excitement about the year :)

What a feeling

I can't believe how everything is turning out this last week.  I got my classroom all packed up and ready to go for the summer which is a huge burden lifted.  I have one more day of choir auditions and that will sum up the choir year for me.  Tomorrow is the 4th grade graduation and I'm so excited to see them graduate to 5th grade.  Today I had my last elementary classes for the year since tomorrow is a combo day with gym and music :)  The 1st grade classes were talkative today, but I knew they would be.  The one class was the greatest though.  They walked in and I had jeans on today which they are not used to seeing me in and one of the kids told me I looked hot today haha.  They all continued to tell me that and then say I looked gorgeous and pretty.  The highlight...one kid asked me to be his girlfriend haha.

Top 5 for the day:
1. Having both classrooms cleaned and ready for the summer.
2. Spending some time with my mentor without it being a mentor meeting :)
3. My 1st graders being full of compliments today :)
4. Getting a pot of daisies from a 4th grader because I made an impact on his life the last 2 years.
5. Knowing there is 1 full day left :)

Fill me with your love.....

Well it's the last week of school and in my 5th and 6th grade music classes we're playing some music games and having fun spending these last few days together.  I gave my 8th grade choir kids their little gift to remember me by (hopefully) and some of them really liked the idea.  My choir girls sound great on their 8th grade song and I am so excited to hear it one more time before graduation!  I did realize I forgot to get a group picture of them so I might have to hope for graduation night (which will be hard to do).  These 8th graders are very special to me and I will miss them a lot next year!

Top 5 for the day:
1. Getting my last wedding gift for awhile.
2. 3rd graders helping me take the xylophones apart :)
3. Starting to put things away in the elementary school classroom.
4. Middle school classroom is all packed away.
5. Nice cool day and night to keep my windows open :)

Girls just wanna have fun!

Well last night was Jen's Bachelorette Party and it was a great time.  We went to Reading to go see "Bridesmaids"and then went to a Hibachi restaurant for dinner.  It was a great time to spend some time with the girls before the wedding.  After dinner we went back to Jen's house where we surprised her with decorating the downstairs apartment and food :)  Staying up late talking about the wedding and our lives made me miss college, but I love where I am.  I love these girls and miss them a lot since I don't see them every day anymore.
Today we woke up and went out for breakfast with Jen's parents and her uncle.  It was a nice drive home and I had to stop to get some wedding gifts for upcoming weddings.  This week is going to go by fast and I have a lot to do.  I have projects that should be turned in this week and it's the last week of school.  Lots of rehearsals for the 8th grade graduation are this week and lots of things to do to get ready for the wedding.  I'm looking forward to Wednesday since it's an afternoon with Gina to get our nails done :) I'm looking forward to spending some time with her and just relaxing since the next day is a half day and 8th grade graduation!  Well, the Tony Awards are on and I have to get going on these 8th grade choir gifts.

Top 5 for Saturday:
1. No traffic going out to Jen's.
2. Seeing "Bridesmaids" and LOVING it!
3. Up until the early morning hours talking.
4. Spending time with friends from college :)
5. Getting excited about the wedding!

Top 5 for Sunday:
1. Breakfast with the girls and Jen's parents!
2. No traffic coming home.
3. Getting almost all of my wedding gifts!
4. 8th grade choir gifts.
5. No lessons to write for this week!

A weekend to remember

This is going to be the start to a few weekends in a row where I am in Pennsylvania.  I'm currently writing this at my parents house while I wait for my laundry to finish and my cake to finish baking.  I got my dress fitted and it is now in my hands for the wedding next week.  This week is a trip into PA for Jen's bachelorette party with the bridesmaids.  I'm so excited because I get to see some friends I haven't seen in awhile!  Next weekend is her wedding and the weekend after that is Adam's wedding which means that I will not have a weekend in my apartment for 3 weekends.
I'm looking forward to this upcoming week because it's the last week of school.  My elementary school classroom will be cleaned up by Tuesday this week!  This is also a big week for me to finish choir auditions and run the 8th grade class song.  I have over 50 kids in choir next year!  Some changes may be coming...we'll have to wait and see :)
Well, the cake is almost done :)  Time to get going on some dinner!

Top 5 for the day:
1. Surprise text messages :)
2. Baking a cake and feeling like I can actually cook something :)
3. Spending some time with the family.
4. Discussion for some changes next year :)
5. All 5th grade projects for today were turned in on time :)

Dance the night away...

I have just enough energy to write this blog tonight.  After not going to bed until quarter of one this morning (for a very good reason :)) I am just exhausted.  Teaching in a room that has very little circulation is brutal when it is nearly 100 degrees outside and feels like it's over 100 due to humidity.  Overall it was a great day.  I couldn't stop smiling :)

Top 5 for the day:
1. Final youth group for the school year
2. Seeing the whitening trays working after day 1!
3. Playing with babies :)
4. Not being able to stop smiling :)
5. Air conditioning in my bedroom :)

We will dance until the world ends

Don't ask why this song is stuck in my head...it's only because it was on in the car when I finally got home today.  It is way too hot to be teaching inside in the afternoon.  Today it was in the upper 90s and tomorrow it's in the 100s.  My room feels like the warmest room in the entire elementary school.  Today was fun though because I finally got my whitening trays for my teeth and my rehearsal dinner dress for next week's wedding!  I also got a chance to see my parents and have dinner with them.  Well, it's off to finish getting ready for my Skype date night :)

Top 5 for the day:
1. Dinner with my parents
2. Having A/C in my apartment and in the middle school :)
3. Getting my whitening trays and a rehearsal dinner dress I am so excited to wear!
4. A fun video chat date tonight :)
5. Getting all the 6th grade projects in on time!

I hope it's gonna make you notice someone like me

Watching "The Voice" tonight is making realize how much I miss my college friends and singing.  My one roommate and I would probably be sitting in my room watching this and laughing and talking about what we liked and didn't like about each singer...just like we did with "American Idol".  I think I prefer "The Voice" over "American Idol".  I didn't get into it this year and I am absolutely loving how they are doing "The Voice".  It's a lot of competition between the professional artists AND the actual competitors.  It's easy to get into also :)
Today has been a very up and down day.  This morning had already started off in a bad mood with a lot of things just not working and I was just over tired...I haven't slept much in the past few days...been too hot so tonight I am caving and turing the A/C on in the bedroom.  I can't believe the end of the year is here and I am so glad it is.  The kids are checked out and it's getting harder and harder to stay motivated towards the end of the year.  This afternoon the classroom got really hot, really fast, especially with 4th grade recorders.  Well, it's off to do some work on a survey for the choir for tomorrow...

Top 5 for the day:
1. Being able to park in the driveway.
2. Having wonderful co-workers to talk to.
3. The last Middle School Collaboration of the year!
4. Looking forward to a date tomorrow :)
5. Daily letters from students :)

And when you smile, the whole world stops and stares for awhile, because you're amazing just the way you are.

Today has been a pretty good day.  Gorgeous weather...and it's getting warmer.  The kids were pretty good today and it is the start of the last week of school :)  The middle and end of the week are going to be great and I can't wait for them to get here :)

Top 5 for the day:
1. Relaxing evening with no work
2. Final bachelorette party details worked out for the weekend :)
3. Looking forward to Wednesday night :)
4. Fun Monday night TV shows
5. Leftovers for dinner :)

Tender and inviting, intimate and alluring, fiercely devoted. Oh yes, our God has a passionate, romantic heart.

It was another gorgeous, cool day in Jersey.  I finished cleaning my apartment and got my last full week of school planned out.  I even got a chance to do a little reading and texting :)  It's been a nice relaxing type of an evening and am so ready for the weekend to get here :)  It's going to be a great weekend with some girls I haven't seen in a few weeks/months :)

Top 5 for today:
1. Clean apartment :)
2. Home-cooked meal :)
3. Lovely weather
4. E-mails from students :)
5. Fun, exciting plans the next few weekends!

To be romanced, to play an irreplaceable role in a great adventure, and to unveil beauty. That's what makes a woman come alive.

I'm reading a book my mom had picked up titled "Captivating".  It's about unveiling the mystery of a woman's soul.  It's really good and I recommend any adult woman to read it.  Today was a pretty good news day.  I got new locks on my door, cleaned out my clothes, cleaned my bathroom and bedroom, met my landlord and his girlfriend and had a chance to talk to them.  I did find out that I am allowed to paint my apartment and do some minor renovations.

Top 5 for the day:
1. Talking on the phone until 1 AM this morning :)
2. Sleeping in and waking up with my windows open :)
3. Cleaned 2 rooms and planning on 2 more rooms tomorrow
4. Finding out I can have a cat if I choose
5. Having a really awesome landlord :)

As we bid farewell...

Tonight was the big Farewell party for our dear principal.  We pulled off the surprise party and had a great time!  I must say that he tells some of the BEST stories and he will be missed next year.  Today has been a pretty decent day :)  The weather is just gorgeous and I love it.  We even opened the windows in the middle school room...I love fresh air.  I also registered for the GREs...now let's hope I pass and get accepted to Montclair State for their Masters in Music Education degree!

Top 5 for the day:
1. Pulling off the surprise party for our principal!
2. Registering for the GREs and feeling pretty good about it.
3. Interviewing my section leaders.
4. Seeing my 6th grade projects get done on time :)
5. One student's picture in 3rd grade :)

We are who we are!

My one and only personal day for the year was today and I took advantage of it.  I did nothing all day, ok maybe a few things, but nothing I wanted done for school.  It was also a gorgeous day...no humidity and in the upper 70s all day.  This was totally a day that was worth a personal day :)

Top 5 for the day:
1. Mini-golf with the youth group (even though I got hit in the chin by a golf ball)
2. Walking around the neighborhood with the pup :)
3. Gorgeous weather to sleep with the windows open.
4. Messages on facebook :)
5. Lunch with Kyle to catch up on life :)

Oh Shenandoah, I long to see you, Away you rolling river...

I got a chance to see the Hackettstown High School Concert Band and Wind Ensemble Spring Concert tonight.  They did a phenomenal job and I am so glad to see music thriving in my alma mater.  I am finally taking a personal day tomorrow and I am very ready to have the day to walk the dog, relax, catch up with a friend at lunch, and maybe do a little school work.  Youth group will also be fun since we're going mini-golfing :-)

Top 5 for the day:
1. Awesome concert by Jesse Argenziano and his bands!
2. Not a lot of traffic on my way to Hackettstown on 80 :)
3. Having students come to the choir open house!
4. Seeing student projects get finished before the due date (they really know how to make my day).
5. Hearing my 8th grade choir kids sing AMAZING (even if it wasn't the graduation song).