"Gandhi Ate More Than This"

Is it just me or does everyone find the food fight scene from the movie Hook to be on their mind constantly when trying to watch what they eat? *Laughs*....but seriously. I have not been able to get it out of my brain since last weekend. It floats around all day, and especially around lunch and dinner time.

In other news, it has been one week since I started this weight watchin' road. And I am here to say that in the past 7 days, I have lost a total of 8 pounds. That's right. Eight pounds in one week. Now, I know this rate may die down as I lose more and more...but I think this just shows how poorly I was treating my body before.

I would like to thank those who have written comments, texts, and messages or have called me with encouragement. It really has meant a lot to know that there are other people in my life who struggle with having a healthy view of eating and exercising.
Just from this week, I have learned that this is just more habit-building and stretching of my diligence. Much like staying diligent in reading my Bible and praying. And Josh is a big part of what has made me successful this week. He has helped me make choices and has even told me no (i.e. as he just left for the store and I asked if he could pleeeaasseee buy a giant Oreo cookie cake--a fav of mine. I was joking. Kind of).

Since we are resorting it up in Mexico this summer, I would like to loose 20 pounds by then. I mean...at this rate, I can definitely get there! I can't wait to see what losses this week brings!

Needless to say, Pinterest has a lot of truth. 

Gained What?!

Okay. I going to level with ya--my, maybe, three followers. *Laughs*

I went to the doctor this past week and learned that I have gained some 30 pounds in the past year. (My doctor calls it happy marriage syndrome...and...well....I'm sorry, this does NOT make me happy).
Now, I knew over the summer I had been pretty bad...eating whenever and whatever I wanted (because I had worked so hard all year, right?) So, I knew the number would be a little higher than it was last year. But I'm sorry, excuse me, WHAT THE....WHAT?! I only went up one size over this past year...WHERE IS THIS WEIGHT ON MY BODY?!

Not acceptable.

On my way home, I felt overwhelmed and terribly discouraged. And guess what I wanted to do? Get something to eat. Something to take my mind off of the sadness and disappointment in myself. Being married to a man who actually looses weight without trying and who would have to eat every minute of the day to gain anything, it seemed impossible to reverse, impossible to fix.

After my wallowing, I had to be a grown up. I had to figure out a way to change my eating -- a way to change my life, to be quite honest. Decisions have to happen. Now. As I cried out to God, I realized that this is just another issue of surrender.

So. After talking (ashamedly) to Josh about my visit, I signed up for Weight Watchers the very next day. I have heard many good things about the program...and to be completely honest, I need a tool to guide me through this. It would be stupid to think I can do this on my own. The past few days have been difficult, but revolutionary. Now, I can know the impact something I eat will have on my progress. All I have to do is type it into the Weight Watchers app on my phone and viola! It's 15 points, so no go OR it's only 1 point, so go for it!
On another positive note, my perfectionist nature really lends itself to staying within my daily points and if I go over, I know this same nature will bring me great disappointment.


Now food is flying out of my cabinets. I want nothing white--no white pasta, no white bread--and nothing that is not low in fat. Josh was then sent on a mission to buy everything whole grain, everything fruit, everything vegetable. For lunches, I had him buy Lean Cuisine (at most one of these meals is 10 points), and I have been pinning Weight Watchers recipes like crazy on Pinterest.
I have also reverted back to my college ways, and am 30-Day-Shredding-it with the help of Jillian Michaels (paired with the swimming).

So. This is day one of keeping a log of my progress. And I need the accountability.

Yeah, Beth.

Workless Monday

It's been a while since my last post. Not for a lack of interesting things to blog about, as much as a lack of time to blog about said interesting things. And instead of playing catch-up, let's just dive right in to today.

To celebrate our many Presidents, I have devoted the day to Netflix-ing Grey's Anatomy (which is giving me a dream to be a surgeon...even though I can't stand the thought of working inside someone's body), grading compare & contrast writings, doing laundry, and cooking.

Dinner is coming from a recipe I found on Pinterest via Kalyn's Kitchen: Baked Pesto Chicken.

Baked Pesto Chicken:

• 4 (I used 3 since I am only cooking for 2) boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• Salt & fresh ground black pepper
• 1/2 c Basil Pesto
• 2 oz. (1/2 c) grated low-fat mozzarella cheese

Make It!

1. Preheat oven to 375F.
2. Trim all visible fat off of chicken, then cut chicken breast lengthwise  into 2-3 pieces.
3. Spray a 9" x 12" baking dish with non-stick spray, then spread 1/4 c of pesto over the bottom of the dish. Lay chicken strips on top of pesto, and spread the other 1/4c pesto on top of chicken
4. Cover dish with aluminum foil and bake 25-30 minutes.
5. Remove foil and sprinkle mozzarella cheese on top of chicken. Put back in oven and cook for an additional 5 minutes.
6. After cheese has melted, put under broiler for 5 minutes, just until cheese is lightly browned.

There are lots of tasty juices in the pan, so you may want to serve on rice or quinoa (my dad just introduced me to this alternative!) to soak them up.

On a totally separate note, I would like to call to attention just how much the Lord has taken care of us this yet again. In January, we were able to entirely pay off one of our (Josh's) student loans. This was able to be done by a generous gift given to us at Christmas...and made the payment of this loan take only a year exactly.

Just this past weekend, we were also given a Mac Pro by my wonderful father. What perfect timing, as the main computer we used has died inevitably (due to it not being able to charge anymore). Not only was this need fulfilled, we are now able to use a computer we would NEVER have paid for on our own.

And finally, Josh and I have been able to attend a class at our church that is going through Read the Bible for Life. 

Going through the workbook (at a steady pace or all at once, has given us accountability for being in the Word daily, the ability to discuss how to more effectively understand the Bible with our church family, and has given an increased joy for being readers and doers of God's word, The series goes week-by-week, with each week focusing on reading the parts of scripture well, like the Psalms, the prophets, Jesus's teachings, the letters of Paul, etc, while at the same time teaching how to read those parts to understand the GRAND story.

If you are a believer who wants to learn how to better read and understand the Bible, I would recommend it!

Happy Day for Presidents!

Yums in the Classroom & the Kitchen!

Say "synonym rolls" five times fast. 

Impossible, right? Okay.. maybe not impossible, but rather difficult.  I made you do that for a reason.. read on! Read on!

While grading the last benchmark, I realized that my students struggled identifying synonyms in context. Yikes! I had a few ideas brewing in my head, but thanks to this delightful pin... my plans changed!

Luckily, fall is the perfect time to whip up a fresh batch of Synonym Rolls. It was the perfect attention-getter and way to spend time reviewing synonyms and using a beloved thesaurus.


As a class, we defined synonyms in our vocabulary notebooks. Then, we took the "boring word"said and thought of OTHER ways to say said. After creating quite the list, I introduced the rolls. Their assignment was to write the main/boring/overused word in the middle of the roll. Then, along the spirally goodness write words with similar meanings.


It was a great way for me to meet with small groups and talk about using a thesaurus and what synonyms really are.


For example: We picked the boring word "mean" for one roll. One student said, "Well, my sister is mean.. so can I add sister to my roll?" This sparked another discussion about what synonyms are and what they are not. 

Now, each of my students has a piping hot batch of synonym rolls waiting for them everyday on the wall outside our classroom!

And since it seems I'm only thinking about the sweet treats department, I have to include one of the recipes I'm preparing for my upcoming small group meeting (at out little apartment for the first time!)

The Picky Apple is a brilliant blogger who posted a recipe for Pumpkin Crunch Cake. Since there are only a few ingredients in this dish... let's cross our fingers I don't mess this one up. (Also...I will make a different desert for Josh as the pecans will kill him)

It's past 9:00!? How am I even awake? It's bedtime. Plus, I've begun to italicize one too many things in this post. Time to depart. Enjoy the weekend!

The Brain

So much on my mind! Scientific method, the 8 characteristics of all living things, showing Christ better to my kiddos who may know nothing of Him, benchmarks, personal narratives, getting a phone that allows me to make calls, new episode of The Office on hulu, creating an FCA sign up letter (yeah, I am going to get an FCA going!), types of sentences, talking to the Apple store people tomorrow and NOT telling them I dropped my phone in a pool this summer ...  obviously my priorities right now are blogging, watching Modern Family, and crafting.

Soon, my weekend will consist of more procrastinating and pinteresting! <--that reminds me...I have to fit in alliteration before I test next week. EEK.

Until then, remember this!

Sunday Funday

I vote we add one extra day in the weekend. We can call it "schmatterday". Then, I will have enough time to lay around and be productive.

As of yesterday, my jewelry storage changed. I have always been a "hang the necklaces from the vanity, and have bowls of earrings and bracelets" kind of girl. Until we got this furry thing called a kitten. She doesn't seem to care about the amount of money whatever she is batting around cost. Nor does she care when my favorite pair of earring studs gets sucked up by the vacuum. So I had to do something. And that something needed to be crafty.

First, I went to Pinterest...the place where all good ideas begin. That is where I found this idea:

So I took a little trip to my local Wally World. My shopping list included the following:
3 bamboo cutlery trays
1 can primer spray paint
2 cans of spray paint
1 box of rubber coated hooks
....and...drill bits. Because we bought a power drill a while back without drill bits :)

First, I primed each tray with white primer since the bamboo was a brown color. Then I painted with the lovely jade color. It took about 3 coats to get it just right.

Then I laid out all my jewelry to choose places for all of it to hang and put in the hooks. Lesson learned: drill pilot holes FIRST. Then screw in hooks :) Much easier on the wood. 

And then to the hanging...I REALLY wanted to hang them in a straight line down the wall (like the example picture). Unfortunately, for the bottom one to not allow the necklaces to touch the ground, the top tray would have to be out of my reach :( (Really genetics? Thanks alot.) So, my husband helped me come up with the alternative.

Sorry the pictures look a little cramped..it isn't exactly spacious in my little walk-in. Yes, I had to hang the trays-turned-jewelry cases in my closet. This is also an attempt to keep the cat AWAY from the necklaces.

Just installed some hooks along the bottom to make room for the long ones.

Problem solved? Hopefully.... :)

Hoppin' Around

I definitely haven't been doing much blogging or crafting lately, but this so-called-thing called "school" started. It appears to have taken a hostile takeover of my life. It's also rather selfish and requires a lot of my time! Oh well, I don't mind a bit. Considering I have had ample time all summer to craft and lounge it's about time I got my bum in gear!

Since I'm putting 'doing things for myself' on the back burner for now ... I'm going to participate in "Teacher Week!" Blog Hoppin' is a blog dedicated to great teaching ideas from a variety of teachers. This linky party seemed like all the rage in teacher blog world. It sounded like another bandwagon was calling my name. And you might as well know my stance on bandwagons--so once again... ALL ABOARD!


Tell us a little something about you...
Howdy doody! I'm Beth. I'm a 6th grade teacher in the "exciting" town of Sikeston (yes for the millionth time--the home of Lambert's). I have lived in Missouri all of my memory and I kind of like it. Don't be fooled, I'm not a farmer nor do I know anything about farming. The "howdy doody" was more a fun way to say hello. When I was little, I wanted to work at McDonalds so I could play on the playplace on my breaks. Lucky for me, I can play on some of the recess equipment on my breaks (mainly the swings). I also used to think that when riding in a car, the people on the other side of the road were the 'white people' and we were the 'red people' due to the headlights and break lights. I have since learned differently.


How long have you been teaching?


This is my second year teaching! Last year, I was right where I am this year...figuring out how 6th graders work. Thankfully, I have gotten some 6th-grader things down...as well as a handle on my classroom management (what they say really is true--you just have to get through your first year). It wasn't the easiest year by any means. :) Now, I'm a second year teacher and it's full steam ahead...


What are you looking most forward to this school year?


Everything! I'll be honest, it doesn't take much to excite me. I bought new colorful post-its the other day and I was on cloud nine. Being in a great school district and school has me excited about absolutely everything (and just being blessed enough to have a job overwhelms me). I'm love my school and the people I work so closely with. My school is really focusing on instruction - HOW to teach content BEST. And that is really what I want to use this year for anyway! It's a whole new year...and each day is a new day. I'm pumped about the conversations and learning experiences that we'll have in my classroom!


What do you need to improve?


Everything! I have a long way to go until I reach "master teacher" status (and a degree or two). I've got a lot of work to do and soo much more to learn. This year has been a little easier adjusting to since I do have some experience, but it's still a new adventure everyday! In a way, I love that I don't know much because it gives me more drive to learn more. On the flip side, I can't wait to be the one giving advice to new teachers. For now, all I can say is ... write everything down (copies to be made, grocery lists, tv shows to watch, student quotes and funny stories, dismissal changes, books to read, etc.) It's impossible to remember everything..  sometimes it's impossible to remember anything. 


What teaching supplies can you *not* live without?


Post-its! I literally have every size you can imagine. Scratch that, I love all pads of paper regardless of the sticky-factor.


Coca-Cola! (I refer to it as "Coke", but I don't want people getting the wrong idea!) I prefer a large coke from the gas station.  It will probably be what kills me...and for now I am okay with that.

BOOKS! I am slowly becoming addicted. My classroom library has grown significantly since last year, thanks in part to very generous donors (smile). And I have finally begun letting my students 'check-out' books from my library. Not gonna lie--this stresses me out at times. I like the way a new book looks, smells, feels. And on my selfish moments (like when I get a book turned back in crumples and torn), I think maybe I shouldn't do the check-out system. But what's the point of buying/earning books if not to stimulate my student's love and enjoyment for reading?


Thanks for reading :)