Is a stress free wedding possible?

Woah! Life got busy! Here's a quick update..


So Jman and I are ENGAGED!! I have dreamed about that day since I was 5 years old and it finally happened. I have always wondered if I would be disappointed if it didn't happen the way I wanted it to be. I was definitely not expecting it but IT was 20x better than I could have ever imagined. Jman took me out to eat at our FAVORITE restaurant (the melting pot). We sat in a small, very private, and cozy booth. We drank a bottle of 7 Deadly Zins red wine (I highly recommend) and ate the Mojo fondue. Right after we started eating desert, Jman popped the question! I will never forget how happy I was at that moment. It was truly amazing!


All I want to do now is wedding plan! Everyone always says that wedding planning is stressful. I haven't felt that at all. The biggest thing for us is to stay on budget! This will be very challanging. After talking with my lovely Jman, we decided that owning a house was much more important to us than having a very expensive wedding. So far it has been difficult finding vendors and venues in our budget. So it looks like I will be doing most of it myself! We finally picked a date and a venue last week! If it wasn't 15 months away then I would have my photography, cake, flowers and dress picked out too! I am trying to pace myself so that I have something to do this summer.


In other news, we started a new semester at school! I was glad to get a new batch of kids. The students were starting to get lazy and apathetic. I am excited to re-do forensics now that I know a little bit more and already have lots of labs and activities planned out.

-Until Next Time www

Heres to 5 Years!

Jman and I are celebrating our 5th year Anniversary this weekend. It seems like it was yesterday that I was coming back to NC State from Winterbreak and Jman asked me to date him. We had talked all break long on instant messaging and I couldn't wait to get back to hang out with him. At first I was a little unsure. I told him I would think about it. Of course that night I had to go back and consult with my roommate, Aly. A few days later he asked me again and I said Yes! I don't think any of our mutual friends thought that we would actually stay together for very long. I was very involved with the sorority and having fun with my girl friends and J was more of a reserved kinda guy (although, he knows how to get down and party too!).


It's funny how much has changed since then. We went from living in the dorms, to being long distance over the summer months, to me living in the sorority house and J living in an apartment, to living in separate apartments, to living together in NC, to living together in MD. During each phase of our lives we faced different difficulties but some how we always have been able to pull through.


I am so thankful for every minute I have shared with my Jman. So heres to my best friend and the most amazing 5 years of my life!

Merry Christmas!

This holiday season came way too fast! I am so thankful for all of the blessings I have in my life right now including having a nice place to live, a supportive boyfriend, a fantastic family and great group of friends. 


Justin and I decided not to send out Christmas cards this year in an effort to save some money. We have set a big goal for ourselves for the new year. By living frugally, we hope to have enough money saved up to buy a house by December 2011! Sometimes when we are surrounded by nice things it can be hard to lose track of the important things in life. So my 2011 resolution is to not be so wasteful with my money. 


Merry Christmas Bloggers! 


Until next time.. 

A tribute to my favorite people..

I love looking at pictures. It reminds me of all of the great things I have in my life.

The girls at Kasey's Wedding

My Love and I

This is why I love him

A wedding should be two things. Beautiful and Fun! Kasey's was both of these things and more!

Trish and I at the Bachelorette party

Girls just like to dance. We did a lot of that. 

Getting ready to go out!

The whole crew

<3

Hello December!

Thanksgiving break came and went WAY too fast! I had a professional development day and a work day which I was very thankful for. I ended up leaving all of my work at school which allowed me to actually relax during break! 

J and I traveled to North Carolina to see his family. Besides the fact that I ate too much dessert, I had a wonderful time! I even convinced J's mom and sister (and J) to go black friday shopping with me! 

It was very difficult to get up Monday morning but it ended up being a great first day back. A lot of my Forensic students seemed happy to see me and it was nice to have students ask me how my break was. I wasn't looking forward to today since I have freshman all day, however, today went by fairly smooth. 

The next 3 weeks are going to FLY by! I love this time of year. 

Until next time

In the mind of a teen..

Today was an interesting day. I got to see into the mind of a teenager from an adult's perspective. 

I have a student named "Jo" who has not been doing very well. First quarter he scraped by with a 60%. The reason why he is doing so poorly is because he is very social. He likes to talk a lot and he can not sit still. In class, I do ALOT of labs but many times he (and other students) do not listen to the instructions and then have no idea what they are doing. These students are extremely frustrating for me. 

Anyway, Jo's parents contacted me today by email explaining how thankful they were for me having the patience and time to work with Jo and that they were going to be much more involved in Jo's education now. So I called Jo over to my desk to let him know that I was sending his Dad an email back and Jo said "I hate my parents!". For that split second I remembered what it was like to HATE my parents. I remember thinking "They don't know what I am going through. They don't understand. They are mean. I didn't do anything to deserve this". So I had Jo sit down and we had a conversation. I told Jo what his Dad had said to me in the email and that his dad wants the best education for him. I feel like for once I might have gotten through to him. I also told Jo that 10 years from now he is going to look back on his high school years and be very thankful that his parents were there to help support him. 

After the conversation, I sat and thought about my own high school experiences and the fights I used to have with my parents about grades and going out to hang with friends and homework..etc. It made me realize how much I have grown up (and love being a grown up). I love my parents and everything they have done for me. Without their support, who knows where I would be. I am very thankful! 

Dreaming

J and I were talking about how fun its going to be to one day have a nice house with nice things that are nicely decorated. (This is after we win the lottery of course). We decided that we are going to have a  finished basement (with a bar and a big screen tv) and it is going to be decorated completely in NC State gear. Here are the fun things we have put on our wish list..

Hey! A girl can dream cant she!?

    Love my Wolfpack! 

Until next time... 

P.S.- One more day of students and two work days until Thanksgiving break!! WOO HOO