I'm back...

Linking up once again with the ladies of these fine blogs for another edition of 5 on Friday!

The Good Life Blog   A.Liz Adventures   Carolina Charm   Hello! Happiness

ONE:

After not posting a 5 last week because it was so crazy busy, between St. Patrick's Day Partying, PD Days, my roomies move and everything in between, I had a relaxing Sunday of doing ABSOLUTELY NOTHING and LOVING IT!!  I stayed in my pj's all day and cleared out the hours of TV on my DVR!!  I gotta say...it made for a great day!

TRUTH!

TWO:

I don't know about anybody else but I am going to be so happy when I can finally put away the winter coat for good!!  I am so sick of it being in the 50's one day and the 20's the next!  Or actually, in the 20's in the morning and the 50's that same afternoon!!  Mother Nature sure is something!!

THREE:

Have you seen this KID??  

One of the assignments I gave my middle schoolers in Tech this week was to watch these two videos and then answer the questions: What is one thing you think people need to say more often? And, What are YOU teaching the world?  I LOVED, LOVED, LOVED the responses!!  And my students loved Kid President!

FOUR:

So I am probably the only one in the world who has yet to see Frozen!  Now that it's out on DVD, it's on my to-do list for this weekend!

FIVE:

40 Bags in 40 days update!

I'm doing pretty good!  Both at home and at school I have gotten rid of tons of stuff.  I will admit that I haven't done a bag a day, but I'm able to make up for it, when I end up throwing away 3 or 4 bags in one day!  So I am totally making progress!  Lots more to still tackle though...  

I had to add to my list this week, when all this was returned to me after being in storage for 2 months.  It's amazing how quickly I forgot about it all!!  If I can eliminate 4 or 5 bins I'll be happy!

To read my original post about 40 Bags in 40 Days, click here!

Have a great weekend!  Whatever you do, I hope it's fabulous!!

Katie

20 Random Facts About Me!

So I saw this floating around Instagram among fellow Insta-teachers!  You had to be tagged to do it, but since I'm not really in that network, I thought it would just be a fun thing to do on the blog.  It'll maybe help my readers (all 12 of you...who probably already know me!) get to know me better!

So here goes:

20 Random Facts About Me!

1.  I snooze no less than 10 times in the mornings...and I have three alarms!
2.  Not a day goes by that I don't laugh (mostly at myself!)
3.  I talk to myself...like a lot!
4.  I don't really like it loud, but I'm a loud person! (If that makes any sense at all!)
5. I'm not a fan of Mondays.
6.  I like that I kinda coined the term "friends" at my school and now others call the students "friends" as well!
7.  My daily staples are coffee and some sort of alcoholic beverage!  And I'm not ashamed to admit that!
8.  I'm a total summer girl.
9.  I love Country Music!  Kenny Chesney is my fave!
10. YES, I'm a Red Sox Fan.
11.  If I could, I'd go teach Mexicans in Cozumel.
12. I wish I traveled more.
13. I will admit it...I shop too much!
14.  SUSHI is my fave...and I credit one person for that! (Even if they'll never know!)
15.  I LOVE kids...I just don't think any of my own are in the cards for me!  And I am totally ok with that.  And if that keeps me single for the rest of my life, I'm ok with that too!  Actually the way things have been going lately, I am completely ok with that! HA!
16.  I shower at night.  I love getting into bed clean...and I HATE changing the sheets!
17.  I don't drive.  I know this is awful, but I don't!
18.  I think the Oster Automatic Wine Opener and the Kuerig are two of the greatest things ever invented!
19.  I should clean the house more!
20.  I spend more time with my family then is probably considered normal!  But hey... when there's 20 of us, there's always something to celebrate!


Hope you enjoyed getting to know a little bit more about me!

Have a great week!  I'll be back again with another 5 on Friday!  I skipped last week because I really wasn't around at all and had no time!

Better Late Than Never!

My Favorite Things for March

I love the Favorite Things Link-up with Erika and Andrea, so even though it's a little late, I'm still going to participate!!  And my faithful readers may think this post a bit redundant if you saw my last 5 on Friday but I don't care...I'm going to continue my lovefest for Girl Scout Cookies!!

Now, sure some may think that $4 is a bit much for boxes that have shrunk down in size over the years, but it's for a good cause!  Perhaps the cookies remind you of your own childhood as a Girl Scout or you knew a friend who was a scout, or maybe you just like them because they taste so good!  There's just so many great flavors to choose from!  I am partial to the Tags and Thin Mints.  Really, this year its been all about the Thin Mints!

And the Girl Scouts have this program that you can donate a box to the soldiers Overseas.   I found that out on Saturday when I ran into some student Girl Scouts selling their cookies outside the Library.  I thought I'd get away with not having to buy any when I told them I would have, but since I'd already eaten 6 boxes (of course that was an exaggeration!!), I'd have to pass!  One of their mothers then told me you could donate the boxes to the troops...so I did!  I donated 2 boxes of cookies and was able to write a short message to the soldiers, which I thought was pretty cool.  Donating is much easier on the waist line!!  And did you know that Girl Scout cookies are actually one of the most requested items of the troops?!?  Researching for the post, I found out that this is called Operation: Cookie and is now in it's 11th year!!  Yikes...where have I been???

So if you have a chance or see some girls selling, donate a box to the troops!  Also, tell me which cookies are your faves in the comments below!!

Another Friday Five!

5 things that helped make this week a great one:

ONE:

My Girl Scout Cookies have Arrived!!

Finally!!!  I'm so, so excited!!!  It feels like I've waited forever to get them.  As a matter of fact, I'm eating them right now as I type this!  I really can't believe how many boxes I bought.  Thin Mints and Tag-a-longs are my fave.  Am I the only one who thinks eating a whole sleeve of Thin Mints in one sitting is a little too easy???

And while we're on the subject, Happy 102nd Anniversary Girl Scouts! (March 12th)
So many fun times were had when I was a Girl Scout...from Daisy thru Cadet!

TWO:

I have joined the iPhone contingent!  

Another FINALLY this week! Ha!  This has been a long time coming.  If you missed it, on Wednesday...I blogged about it!  Typing the whole post while on my iPhone! Love the Blogger app! :)  

THREE:

Daylight Savings Time

I don't know about anybody else, but I am so happy it is now lighter later!  The dark mornings however, are another story!  Wednesday morning I totally and completely oversleep.  I have about 6 alarms to wake me up, and I slept through every single one of them!  I know...this is bad!  Oh and another thing-it took me until yesterday to realize that I never switched my watch ahead! (Shows how much I actually look at the thing, huh?)

FOUR:

Sushi 

When I was first introduced to sushi years ago, I'll admit, I didn't want anything to do with it.  As a matter of fact, I had the chicken! LOL But after that, I gave it a try and now I LOVE it!  LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it!  Like if I was stranded on a desert island and could only have three things with me, one would be sushi!  Back then, I tried the typical California Roll and the Avocado Roll.  Now I love all sorts of rolls and will try anything!  Except maybe eel...yea...I won't try eel!

FIVE:

St. Patrick's Day!
My High Holy Day is arriving Monday!!  I can't wait!
I hope you have a great one!  Fancy up the wardrobe with a wee bit o' green! Eat some traditional Irish fare, have a Guinness, and do a jig!
 I'm starting a petition to make St. Patrick's Day a Holy Day of Obligation...who's with me????



Have a fabulous weekend!
Katie

Love Linking up each week with Darci, April, Christina, and Natasha !

Bloggin' from my new Phone!!

Since I realize that it's a bit ridiculous that it took me this long to get an iPhone, I thought it'd be pretty hilarious if I wrote a post entirely on it!! I can't wait to use it!! Just think of all the pics I can take for the blog...and the SELFIES...and the Insta Challenge photos! And I can Shazam songs and use the Cartwheel app everyone is just so in love with!! I've made it, I'm in the in crowd! FINALLY!!!

Set up was pretty painless! I had a mini heart attack when I saw that they assigned me a new number but I got right on the phone and got that taken care of pretty quickly. In less than 24 hours I'll have my old number back and all will be right with the world!

I'm also loving the cheapo case I picked up on Amazon for the time being, until I found something I really loved, LOVED! (I had to stop myself from purchasing the naked Adam Levine case, but I think that's a story for another day!) I may keep this one longer than I thought!! 

And my bestie brought up a good point tonight: I will now be reachable!!! Hahahahahaha With my old phone I had for 5 (maybe 6!) years with no upgrade, it no longer held a charge and needed to be rigged up in various positions to actually charge as of late, which ultimately, was the straw that broke the camel's back! I can't travel around town or on trains and not have that security of a good, reliable phone!  

I do however, need to get better at typing on this thing. My fat, man hands were not made for this little keyboard! Thank goodness for auto-correct right now! Ugh

I'm off to fool around with this thing some more! Hope you had a Happy Hump Day! 

Just think, FRIDAY's one day closer! Come back then for another 5 on Friday! Betcha can guess what one of my five is this week! :)

If you have the iPhone and wanna share some favorite apps, please do!! 

*Disclaimer-

This post is not meant to be discriminatory! I have nothing against android phones (I had one!), but since I'm more of an Apple user, I figured the iPhone was the logical next step for me! 

TGIF!

It's Friday! YAY!!  I feel like the weeks lately are soooo long but then when I sit down to write this blog, I think to myself...how is it Friday already!!  LOL!!!!   Does anyone else feel this way?  Linking up with Darci and the girls once again!!

 

Here's five things I'm loving this week!

ONE:

40 Bags in 40 Days

If you saw yesterday's post, you know that this Lent, I'm joining Mel at The Larson Lingo for the 40 Bags in 40 Days Challenge.  To learn more about how I'm doing it click here!  I'm really excited about it and am off to a great start!

TWO:

Adele Nazeem

I can't be the only one with this in my five this week!  But I was just sooooo mad when John Travolta botched Idina Menzel's name at the Oscars!!  I mean really!  Maybe I know her well because I have seen her on Broadway in Rent and Wicked and just think she is super-fabulous...but really...how do you do that!?!?!  Practice your lines, John Travolta!!!  

And of course, you know I just had to Travoltify my name!  I'm KENZIE MITCHEEM!  See the the awful intro and Travoltify your own name here!

And just for fun, watch this!!

Congrats to Frozen for winning the best song OSCAR!

THREE:

The Photo that broke Twitter

YES!  I re-tweeted this!! And yes, I know...I need a life!  But Bradley Cooper is front and center...and I LOVE him!!

FOUR:

Liberty School Cabernet Sauvignon

Have you ever tried this wine?  I had it for the first time this week and it was so good!!  My brother-in-law is my wine guy!  I love it because he and my sister are big wine drinkers and I trust them with the recommendations!  I tell him I need a case of wine, he brings me a mix and I take it!  This last time he put two bottles of the Liberty School Cab in and it was so good!  Ordinarily, I am a Merlot drinker, but I like this just as much!  Definitely give it a try!

FIVE:

And Introducing....

Welcome to the world Brinleigh Cate! I'm an "aunt" again!  This beauty was born on Wednesday to one of my very best friends... now a Mama to 2 precious girls. I can't wait to meet her!  Wish I had already had but this pesky thing called work got in the way!!  The weekend is here and I have plans to hold this little cutie!!  It's always so exciting when a new life begins!

Have a fabulous weekend,
Katie  

A Lenten Challenge

So yesterday was Ash Wednesday, which symbolizes the first day of Lent.  Typically Catholics abstain from something during this time.  There are plenty of things I could give up like shopping, chocolate or alcohol. But let's be for real...that's not gonna happen!

If I don't have coffee everyday, I get a headache (which still kills me!!)  I hate that I'm so dependent on it!

And I can't give up chocolate.  My Girl Scout Cookies haven't even arrived yet!  AND EVERY SINGLE BOX IS CHOCOLATE!!  :)

Giving up shopping? Nah!  I still need to shop during these 40 days...a girl needs food ya know!!  ;)

And, it's really ok if I don't give up wine.  Jesus would totally understand that. After all, every time I take a sip of wine, it reminds me of the blood of Christ.  And He knows, working is tough...I can't work and not drink!
And I mean, really, St. Patrick's Day falls during Lent!!  I just know God loves Guinness!!!

But back to the issue at hand.  Rather than give up something, I am going to join the 40 Bags in 40 Days Challenge.  I first heard about this from Mel @The Larson Lingo.  She's one of the hosts of the Pin-spired Link-up! *If you missed my March Pin-spired post, find it here!!*

Rather than give up something for 40 days (47...but who's counting!), get rid of a bag of "stuff" each day!  Talk to my dad and my sister (my current house guest) and they will tell you I have a lot of "stuff"! Actually, I think my sister used a more colorful word, but this here's a family blog!

Basically what you do, is make a list of 40 places around your house, or in my case, house and school, that need de-cluttering and cleaning!! And get rid of it!  Either throw it in the trash or donate it!

Here is my list:

I don't have 40 areas yet, but I do have a home side and a school side!  And I'm off to a great start!!  As the 40 days progress, I'm sure I'll add more!  And if I don't, that's ok, too!

To learn more about this challenge and get tips about how to make this work for you, visit Mel's blog here. Her three most recent posts mention 40 bags in 40 days!

And the super cute printable that was made for her, which she shared with all of us, can be found here! (I made a few copies!...LOL)

So, wish me luck!  Feel free to join in on the challenge!  Or tell me what you're giving up during Lent!

Tomorrow's Friday!!  It's about time...Come back for another edition of 5 on Friday!