eight is great

8 things I'm looking forward to:

1. summer!!
   
2. my greece field trip
   
3. having a tan
   
4. living on the northside
   
5. making babies
   
6. paying off the jetta
   
7. did i already mention summer?
   
8. 10/09/10
   

8 things I did yesterday:

1. bought a cutie new dress from the Gap outlet
   
2. finally finished inserting work from the 3rd nine weeks into my portfolios
   
3. made waffles for breakfast
   
4. tried on engagement rings :)
   
5. spent many minutes feeling guilty about missing Minds in Motion
   
6. ate dinner in Williamsburg at the Green Leafe Tavern
   
7. watched a few episodes of Parks & Recreation on-line
   
8. stayed up all night talking with Matt about our future
   

8 things I wish I could do:

1. fly
   
2. breathe underwater
   
3. speak spanish fluently
   
4. time travel
   
5. make sure every child is loved & fed
   
6. eliminate guns and money from our society
   
7. travel around the world and get paid to do it
   
8. surf big waves
   

8 shows I watch on television:

1. Jeopardy
   
2. How I Met Your Mother
   
3. The Office
   
4. Parks & Recreation
   
5. 30 Rock
   
6. The Biggest Loser
   
7. Late Night with Conan O'Brien (one more week!!!)
   
8. SNL
   

itsy bitsy teeny weeny polka dot bikini

bikini season is fast approaching and ive finally decided to do something about it. i have really been watching what im eating and running a couple times a week. ive lost 10lbs in one month and im starting to remember how it feels to be proud of my body. ive never been one to lack self-confidence but it hit me hard about a year ago. i used to live in my bikini and strut around without so much as a second thought. and then all of a sudden i had all these unwanted curves? yikes. i am proud of myself for sticking to it and to celebrate i bought a cutie polka dot bikini. looking forward to rocking it this summer...

slurvey

1.) Fill it out
2.) Change one question with one of your own
3.) Add an additional question
4.) Send it to 3 people.

1. What are your current obsessions?

facebook, stained glass, counting points

2. Which item from your closet are you wearing most often?

my new colorful, stripey dress from Old Navy. i wore it three times last week. its so damn pretty. and it makes my tatas look pretty and tan.

3. Last thing you bought for yourself?

i treated myself to a fancy hotel in tampa, florida for spring break:

4. What’s for dinner?

not much, the cupboard is bare.

5. Say something to the person who tagged you:

i wasn't tagged, i stole it from essential e's page.

6. What is one item you could not live without?

matthew

7. Vacation spots you must visit before you die?

• Australia
  
• Fiji
  
• China
  

8. Favorite kind of workouts?

• yoga
  
• swimming
  
• hip-hop fitness
  

9. What are you reading right now?

10. What is the last movie you saw and enjoyed? Rate it out of 5 stars.

Rachel Getting Married. i rented it last night. its a kookie indie film about a girl just out of rehab attending her sister's wedding. it was very different, but also strangely intriguing. 3 and 1/2 stars.

11. What’s your guilty pleasure?

sleeping in on the weekends.

12. What are you eating/do you want to eat right now?

i am really craving something sweet right now. a chocolate croissant would be lovely:

13. Best thing you ate or drank lately?

i walked two blocks in the rain tonight to purchase a six-pack of Magic Hat #9. it was well worth it.

14. Care to share some wisdom?

15. Describe one of your happiest moments.

anniversary weekend in DC

16. What was your best Halloween costume?

french maid

17. What do you have an addiction to?

pedicures, the biggest loser, roller coasters, sunshine

18. What do you do that you would be embarrassed for others to know about?

i have a few OCD habits that would reveal just how crazy i really am.

19. What names do you go by? (this is the one i changed)

liz, lizzie, elizabeth, ms.vermillion, ms.v, baby

20. Link to a favorite post from your blog.

love

21. What is your idea of a perfect day? (this is the one i added)

wake up next to matthew, breakfast brunch, sunny day at the beach, a salty nap, fancy dinner & drinks, kissing

99 bottles of beer on the wall...

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyworld
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Kissed a stranger at midnight on New Year’s Eve
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee

things ive learned this week:

in honor of beckys beautiful blog full of nyc lessons learned, ive decided to share some things that ive learned this week:

ive learned that even as an adult it is difficult to make choices between extracurricular activities.

ive learned that when youre brutally honest about your fears, it hurts his feelings and bruises his ego.

ive learned how to cut glass into pretty shapes.

ive learned that you can drink beer for dinner every night for a week, but that you dont always feel great in the morning.

ive learned that your hands really hurt after five hours of clapping at basketball games.

ive learned that you should bring a jacket when it has snowed within the last week, no matter how warm its supposed to be outside.

ive learned that UKrops paper grocery bags dont hold up well to my groceries, but that my groceries hold up pretty well to asphalt.

ive learned that three cloth bags do not hold a weeks worth of groceries.

ive learned that all you really need is a couple brews, a jar of mango peach salsa and some girl talk to put things into perspective.

ive learned that having more people on a committee isnt always helpful, less is better.

ive learned that sleeping with the windows open makes waking up a little easier (and a little chillier).

ive learned that falcons eat squirrels. loudly.

ive learned that daytime drinking leads to grumpy evenings.

ive learned that food poisoning can last all night and most of the next day.

ive learned that boys like to double dutch too.

ive learned that from there to here, and here to there, funny things are everywhere.

ive learned that babies break sunglasses.

ive learned that giving yourself a mani-pedi can make you feel extra girly & pretty too.

ive learned that the longer you wait to book it, the more expensive your vacation will be.

6th sense

my sixth picture in my sixth folder is of me & kristin. this picture was taken in august 2005. i had just gotten home from a summer in europe. we met up unexpectedly at a local drinking hole. sublime was playing in the background. we had been out of touch for a while. she was my best friend. the closest thing i ever had to a sister. my freshman year roommate. a teacher. a daughter. always smiling. bright, blue eyes. fun. happy.

she was killed in an accident about a month after this picture was taken. i loved her and i miss her every day.

busy bee

i was looking at my congested calendar tonight (during the 6pm school board meeting, after the 4pm focus group meeting and of course after a long day of teaching kindergarten) and im feeling a little overwhelmed to say the least...
there are professional obligations and some things ive penciled in for fun. i have big trips (greece & dominican republic) and little trips (DC & tampa). i will attend a unity dance & a 5K. i have art classes im taking (stained glass) and art classes im teaching (jewelry-making). i will teach teachers & coach kids. i have friends getting married and friends having babies...

"a bee is never as busy as it seems; its just that it cant buzz any slower"

Love is not a single feeling but an emotion built from two or more feelings

the freckles on his shoulders make me smile
he is my very best friend
when im feeling down, he lifts me up
he has made me laugh out loud every day since the day we met

i daydream about our future

his intelligence is sexy

his smile

when we hold hands i feel safe

my mom loves him

i think about him all day, every day

i know what hes thinking with just a glance

his eyes sparkle in a dark room

hes the first person i want to tell everything to

when he sings while playing the guitar, i melt
he is love

25 things about me, the long version

1. when i was a little girl i wanted desperately to be a mermaid. i would spend hours under the ocean hoping that if i somehow stayed underwater long enough some sort of magical transformation would take place. it never happened and it is still disappointing to me, even as an adult.

2. i look forward to being a mother. this is a new feeling and one that really surprises me. i looked at house the other day and it had a nursery off the master bedroom. i cried. i could see the crib.

3. i am amazed and thankful everyday that i found matthew. i never much believed in soul mates and thought that maybe one day i would find someone i would 'click' with enough to marry. but i was completely unprepared for this. i love him more than i can truly explain with words. we are connected in a way that is sometimes unreal to me. he is my person. the only one for me. he is my best friend, my lobster.

4. i am really good at my job. i love being the introduction to education for little people and i truly believe that kindergarten teachers have the most important job. i also love going to work everyday because i work with amazing people who im proud to call my friends.

5. the summer of '05 i traveled through Europe by myself. it is one of the things that i am most proud of in my life.

6. i lost my best friend three years ago and it still hurts everyday.

7. i love to laugh and i actively surround myself with fun people that don't take life too seriously. i do not however like the typical joke book kind of “jokes.” they are boring and hardly ever make me laugh. i heart situational comedy and wit.

8. i like holding hands. with matt, with my mom, with lilly catherine smith. i like the connection, it warms my heart.

9. the smell of smoke disgusts me and i can not be around it. i smoked for about five years and i am thoroughly disgusted with myself for it.

10. i am nice mix of parents: im outgoing and sociable like my mother, not to mention a carbon copy of her good looks. i am organized and nerdy like my dad and crave alone time more than most people i know.

11. i heart television more than id like to admit. i don't have cable so i rock the 3 and 1/2 channels with ghetto-fabulous rabbit ears. i like a handful of sitcoms. i LOVE jeopardy and watch it almost every night. i watch the news when it suits me. im a nightowl and really enjoy late night talk shows, conan is my favorite. when im near a tv with a million channels i watch the deadliest catch, music videos & movies. ooooh and i love TV on DVD: the wire, arrested development, six feet under, weeds.

12. mountains frighten me. i feel like im going to fall off the side every time im on one. drop me in the middle of the ocean and ill do okay, take me on a ski trip and i crumble.

13. i love basketball. i dont play, i just watch. but im serious about a game.

14. i'm seriously considering a tattoo. im going any day now...

15. when im in an awful mood only a few things can pull me out of my funk: reggae, loud reggae. going to the movies, solo. cleaning the house, dust cloths and everything. or a long drive in 5th gear, windows down.

16. i have an unnatural love for office supplies. anything from binders to paperclips and everything in between. i literally could spend hours in an office supply store.

17. my two favorite ways to fall asleep: matthew playing guitar on the edge of the bed or matthew playing with my hair.

18. sometimes i feel like a rockstar. i can't walk through the cafeteria without hearing my name a dozen times. or buy tampons at the pharmacy without seeing someone i know.

19. i dont believe in god. but i am coming to terms with others' beliefs. i like everything i know about jesus and think he would be disgusted by modern day churches, christians and religion. my personal religion is simple: be a good person. i go to sleep every night knowing that i live my life as a good person and that is all i need to know.

20. being a grown-up sometimes freaks me out. i still feel like i should be sitting at the kid table and i cant remember when or why i got promoted?

21. im not one of those girls whos been dreaming of their wedding day since tweendom, but since meeting the love of my life i have completely planned the wedding. i have a band, a date, a location, even a guest list...but no engagement ring.

22. i like to cook and bake. but wish i had a nicer kitchen because i might do it more often. music is a must in my cooking space, the food will taste better if singing and dancing were involved.

23. i am grossed out by olives, nervous about crossing streets and terrified of wolves. i am fearful that i will die from one of these three things.

24. i speak a little farsi, enough to get by in a DC taxi it turns out.

25. my favorite thing to do is dance to live reggae. it warms my soul.

cantankerous

i dont want to do work right now. i want to crawl under my electric blanket and drift off into a blissful sleep. but no. i have to fill out paperwork for people who wait until the last possible second to give it to me. why does their lack of preparation call for an emergency on my part? (thank you Jim, the best thing ive ever heard at a staff meeting) they have had over a month to get these forms to me, yet they wait until days before they need it. im not doing it. my heart isnt in it and i cant concentrate. its bedtime. goodnight.

P is for Perfectionist

Here are are my 10 favorite Ps:
(thank you essential e!!)

pumpkins-pumpkins make me smile. they remind me of being little and my favorite of all the holidays, halloween. it is my mom's favorite holiday as well, so it was always a special time of year growing up. i love "baby pumpkins," tall, slender ones and short, fat ones too. i also like to eat/drink all things pumpkin...bread, seeds, ale. yum! and the best part: carving pumpkins!! fall weather. pulp. friends. and even power tools.

purses-i must have a million in my closet. literally. i cant seem to pass up a cute bag. im partial to Volcom purses and Coach clutches.

pedicures-ahhhhh...i truly enjoy going to get my 'toes did.' it makes me feel pretty & girly. its fun to go with a girlfriend, mama or just by myself. i bring a Glamour magazine and usually my own color. i LOVE the O.P.I brand nail polish...they have cute names like Grand Canyon Sunset (my color for my recent AZ trip) or Yucatan If U Want, which is the color i like best and as you can see such a pretty color! oh, and my new favorite thing about pedicures...hot stones! you must check it out if you dont know about it. my. god. it feels fantastic.

Picasso-i am a huge art enthusiast and i love his work. a few years ago i had the great pleasure of living in Malaga, Spain for a month, which is where Picasso was born. i was able to visit museums and see not only his famous works of art, but some of his sketchbooks and doodles too. it was truly amazing.

my passport-one of the many loves of my life is travel. i love getting on a plane to go anywhere, but i really geek out if it means another stamp in my passport. some of my favorite stamps include: Morocco, Africa. Madrid, Spain. Pula, Croatia. Amsterdam, Netherlands. and many more to come...

palm trees-i am a beach bum. i live for the sun, summer, oceans, sand & palm trees. i love lying on the beach and looking up to see beautiful palm fronds slowing swaying in the breeze. for the past 5 years ive taken a girls only spring break trip to a tropical destination (hawaii, st.croix, jamaica, costa rica, bahamas) and i have many wonderful memories of laughing with my best buddies under the shade of palm trees.

purple-is my favorite color. it is a happy, relaxing, calming color that always makes me smile. i have a purple purse & digital camera. i bought them both just because they were purple.

books by James Patterson-are my guilty pleasure. they arent fantastic novels full of deep meanings and epic characters. but they are great to me. i usually read his books in one day. i cant help it, i open one up and i literally cant put it down. i get sucked into his emotional and sometimes dark world and cant bring myself to leave until ive reached the final page. it reminds me of how i used to read Nancy Drew books when i first realized that i loved to read.

pasta-hot. cold. penne. thin spaghetti. ziti. rotini. shells. elbow macaroni. manicotti. rigatoni. fettuccine. lasagne. ravioli. tortellini. buttered. red sauced. white sauced. and with any or all of the following: steamed broccoli. cheddar cheese. mushrooms. fake meat crumbles. summer squash. goat cheese & tomatoes. cucumbers. bell peppers. parmesan cheese. parsley. fake chicken. broccoli rabe. salt & pepper.

our new President-i am so excited about the prospect of change in america and for the first time in my adult life i am truly proud to be an american. i am headed to washington dc tomorrow for the inauguration and i am so pumped to be a part of history. and with that i will say happy inauguration day everyone!! its officially bush's last day...lets party like a barackstar!!!

powder puff

i used to "watch football" with my daddy when i was a little girl. i would set up my coloring books, drawing paper, crayons and colored pencils on the coffee table and listen to the announcers for hours while i created beautiful works of art. my dad would curse and cheer at the television and i would ask him a million questions. he bought me football cards and i spent hours organizing them in a binder. i knew all the quarterbacks' names, the team mascots and i knew more about the game than any of my tutu wearing prissy friends.

then puberty hit and my NFL bonding time with dad was replaced by trips to the mall, holding hands with boys at the skating rink and endless hours talking on the phone. i forgot all about football. i forgot about Joe Montana. touchdowns. lazy sunday afternoons. it was all a blurry memory covered in dust and forgotten along with my NFL binder.

many years later here i sit by myself watching the titans and the ravens battle it out in the playoffs. and im into it. ive fallen in love with football again and this time its a different man thats behind it all. the love of my life is salesman. and hes sold me. hes turned the NFL into a soap opera and each week i look forward to watching "my stories." i know all the drama. the rivalry. the friendships. the cinderella stories. the heartbreaks. and the successes. it feels good to be back in the game and i have a new found love for sundays. we curl up on the couch, swig beers and cheer for our team. are you ready for some football? im more than ready. im excited.

the world wide interwebs

i was the last of my friends to buy a CD player. ive been known to hug a tree. i live without cable. and now i have sold out: i bought a laptop, i set up a myspace and a facebook...so why not blog?



i dont really know much about computers (though).

things that i like: i can chat to my people on-line. i can check my bank account to make sure that i havent been hacked. i can organize my photos (yes, i have a digital camera). i can write electronic mail to my co-workers & send things to myself so I can print them at work. i can look at pictures of people i used to know in high school clowning around with their drunk idiot friends or smiling obnoxiously next to their smug families. i can watch funny videos on youtube again and again and again.

but i havent quite figured out how it do what it do. and im pretty sure that i never will. i need to just accept that its "technology" and no one will ever be able to make it make sense to me. and thats okay because its fun and i like it.