Back to School Week!

It's back to School Week for Me!  Part of me is thinking UGH....but another part of me is thinking YAY!, too!

I thought I'd hop on board with Blog Hoppin's Teacher Week this week.  I know this blog is not very "teachery" per say, but teaching consumes more than half my life and I enjoy sharing bits of my life inside and out of the classroom, so this will be fun!  With school starting I may not do a blog post everyday but I'll for sure post to instagram each day!  So follow me.... @missmitch2

Today's topic is:

{ONE}

I teach Library and Technology to all the students in my Pre-K through 8 grade Catholic School.  I am going into my 14th year of teaching!  Wow...it doesn't seem that long nor does it seem like I am old enough to be teaching that long.  (I will forever be 25 in my head!)  Over the years I have taught fourth grade, third grade, second grade, and now library-tech for the past 3 years...going on year four!

Library-Tech is great but I sometimes miss my own class and the sense of family!  I do enjoy being able to teach and get to know every single student though!

{TWO}

I live in the same town in which I work.  As a matter of fact, I can walk to work...in about five minutes!  I love this! Sometimes I see the kids around town.  It's so funny to see kids outside of the school setting and see their mouths drop open when they see you actually out in the real world!  It is not without it's challenges sometimes though either!!

{THREE}

Online shopping is my downfall!  I shop way too much!  This year I had a clothes shopping ban going....and I made it about three months!  Then I fell of that "ban" wagon hard!!  LOL  But I am always very smart about it.  I look for the great sales, buy on the cheap and always use ebates...the best thing EVER!!!

{FOUR}

Country music is my absolute favorite.  I like the stories in the songs and love that I can sing along to every word. I have been to so many country concerts.  Going to concerts is one of my top five things to do ever! I know today's country music is not like that of the past, but I enjoy it all.  Kenny Chesney is my favorite.  His was the concert of the summer!

{FIVE}

I laugh every single day!!  About everything and nothing at all!  Even if it's the worst day ever I try to find the joy and funny it it!!  I think you just have to...because what's the alternative??

Hope you enjoyed getting to know a little bit more about me and consider taking a peek over here to my little space in the blogosphere from time to time!!

Have a great day,

Katie

Another year down!

Well today marks the second year in my home!  2 years ago today I closed and moved in here!  It was actually the very first day of school too, so needless to say, it was a busy day!  Last year on my first anniversary I shared this post!  The second year was less eventful I guess you could say, but there are still some things of note:

I've cooked a lot more this year!  Thanks to Hello Fresh!

I didn't have any long term house guests like I did the first year, but I did have some fun visitors!  Who I actually now have a bed for in the guest room!  They might still have to sleep among boxes and my Christmas tree but...

I feel like I entertained more this year!
A new Friendsgiving tradition was started... and will continue here!
And I once again hosted Christmas Eve dinner!
The bestie and I Celebrated New Year's Eve here.
One epic "girls only" slumber party was had for my birthday! (And one vera umbrella spent six weeks buried in the snow three houses down...).
And my my family came out for my town's St. Patrick's Day Parade and Celebration!

Lots of time was spent on my Postage Stamp Patio, in my new (to me) lounge chair!  So this summer I have a more even tan!  Woo Hoo!!

During this second year I spent a few weeks in THE BOOT, broke my toe and had laryngitis for a week.  So I spent a lot of time here!  HA!

I've accessorized the house more.  I've added a number of cork cages to the top of my kitchen cabinets!  Which is probably my favorite decorative feature in the house! And added more signs to the walls!  This is one of my faves!!  :)

I blogged about the house more this year.  Find those posts here & here!

I STILL didn't get a chandelier, much to my uncle's dismay!

I also contemplated getting a bigger kitchen table but that will have to wait....thank you Capital One! Cause damn, they are expensive!   Maybe before the next Friendsgiving!

I am pretty much settled into my home and my ways in this little house.  It's the perfect size for me!  I like having friends and family over but also enjoy the quiet nights spent here!

Ya know what, after all this, I think this second year WAS more eventful!
I look forward to what's to come in my next year (or 38)!

Have a great weekend all!

Five on Friday!

Some of my favorites from the week that was....

{ONE}

Sunday Brunch with my nieces!

I've brunched lots this summer!!

At brunch I drank presceo out of these cute little glasses and am determined to add them to my collection!!  I resisted the urge to drop one in my purse!  :)

I have not succeeded in Googling them!!  If anyone has these and knows where to get them, help a sista out!

{TWO}

Drank my first ever Starbucks Peach Green Tea Lemonade!

YUM!!  Where have I been???

{THREE}

I finally got to wear this dress!!  I bought it during the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale after seeing it on Shay. It wasn't on sale but it's inexpensive anyway.  So easy to just throw on and go.  Dress up or down and can totally transition to Fall!  I kinda wish I had it in every color!

This was my look for my school's Welcome Back BBQ...which I can't really say was a fave!  LOL

I know, I know...I'm no Shay Shull!  But I got a ton of compliments on this!  So I guess that's a plus!!  And yes I did actually take this photo while walking out the door!  Cuz I thought to myself "I'm gonna be a gross, sweaty mess by 3 o'clock!!  And I swear in the photos I take like this I attempt to show my feet then when I snap they disappear!  I am a bad selfie-taker...but still do it all the time!

{FOUR}

So yesterday I  saw that there were some new words added to the Oxford dictionary. These are some silly-ass words!  You just have to laugh!!  Some of these new words include: awesomesauce, hangry, mic drop, and manspreading.  I know these words well and now it seems they are "official"!  But my personal favorites...Wine O'Clock and Beer O'clock!  Both refer to the time of day you start drinking! {or basically anytime of day...LOL} See the whole list here!

{FIVE}

Have you seen this!?   So super cute and funny !  What a great way to get the teachers all pumped for a new school year!! Wish the sound was a little more clear...but creative and fun nonetheless!! Worth a watch!!

Hope your weekend's awesomesauce!!! :)    It's the last weekend of the summer for me, so I'm gonna soak up the SUN!!

Linking up today with:

Erika, Andrea, and Narci for Friday Favorites 

September Farm and The Farmer's Wife for Oh Hey, Friday!

April and the girls for Five on Friday

Jennie for Friday Favorites

Caitlin and the girls for High Five for Friday

  

Random Thoughts for a Thursday!

Have some more random thoughts floating around in my head that just need to get out I suppose!  So here goes...
Thanks in advance for reading my ridiculousness!!

I slept great last night!  Fell asleep before 11 and woke at 7:15.  I am not yet going to say that was due to the new lavender essential oil I put on before bed but...looks promising!!

I also put the stress away on my neck before bed (because now we are working on Day four of this pain!) and it's not 100% all gone but a lot less restrictive today.  Maybe there is something to this essential oil trend!  Look forward to using more of them.

It's really annoying when I'm typing and I look up to see my damn cursor has moved on its own and is no longer typing where I want it too!  This has been a problem for like a week!  UGH!!

Instead of blogging I should be enrolling kids in classes!  Now that I went to the "unofficial" first day of school yesterday, it is sincerely time to get my ASS IN GEAR!!  And maybe find a really, really, really, really, really, important thing I seem to have lost this summer!!

Is it bad that I wish death to all crickets?  I have one right outside my front window!  And he's not only there at at night.  Oh NO!  He's there all freaking day!!  Is there any more annoying sound?

I'm still struggling with my broken Keurig every morning.  I tweeted about it and they actually responded.  So I called customer service and while listening to the recordings it said I would need my serial number.  I hung up and haven't called back because I have to find that.  I'm just lazy about it I guess.  And you know what???...it feels GREAT screaming and cursing at your Keurig first thing in the morning!  And then WOO HOOing when it finally works!

So needless to say, I've only had one cup of coffee lately.  But it's ok...it frees me up for a vodka and OJ in the sun at 11!  HA!!  Just kidding Ma! #ornot  #solitarylifeprobs

I have high hopes I'll finish three books this weekend!  No...really!!

Saturday is two years since I moved into my Forever Home!  Trying to think of a post to put together for it.  Last year I posted this!  But I think I may do a second installment of this! (one of my all time favorite posts!) I kinda love my little house...

I'm not 100% sure that when I reply to comments on the blog, people get them!  I went in my spam folder in my email yesterday and saw all there messages that said undeliverable!  WHAT!?!? I have to investigate that.  I read and love all your comments!!  THANK YOU!!!

I'm seeing Fall EVERYWHERE!!  And I'm not ready for summer to end!

I'm sure next week when it's 90, humid and I'm in school melting, I'll feel differently!  But now...nope...I'm holding on!! Summer Forever!!


What random thoughts are floating around in your head today?!?  Share them with me in the comments below!!

Have a great day!!

Linking up with Vanessa and Penny Today!

What's up...

Well after a great week blogging last week, this is my first blog this week!  I was without a computer a while and I pulled something in my neck, so really I've been resting!

But I am back at it for What's up Wednesday today! Linking up with Mel at The Larson Lingo, Shay at Mix and Match Family and Sheaffer at Pinterest Told Me To

What I'm eating... OUT!!  I haven't cooked here in awhile!  But it's all been super yum!

What I'm reminiscing about... SUMMER!!  I know it's technically not over yet, but I've already started my 2015 Summer in an Insta project on Shutterfly so I've been going back over all my pics and thinking about the summer!  This was last summer's!  I only got it in May.  I am more on the ball this year! (but am waiting for a good sale, too!)  So this is also what I've been working on!

What I'm dreading... School Starting!  #SummerForever...

What I'm loving...these last few lazy days before it's back to the old routine!

via

What I've been up to...enjoying these last few days but preparing for the new school year!  

What I'm excited about...The launch of The Blended Blog!!!! Find out more here!  

What I'm watching/reading...Watching Public Morals that just premiered last night! {I think it has to grow on me} but this guy is nice to look at!

Austin Stowell

And I am in the middle of reading The Nightingale.  It's my first Kristin Hannah novel and I am enjoying it.  My cousin recommended it to me and said it was one of the best books she ever read.  Those are not exactly my thoughts but maybe it will take a turn soon!

What I'm listening to... Carrie Underwood's new song, Smoke Break.  The video was just released and I've watched it a few times already.  After a few listens, I'm really liking this song!!

What I'm wearing...Lately I've been spending lots of time in yoga pants and tank tops with my hair pulled back and on top of my head!  And my bathing suit!

What I'm doing this weekend...After a full weekend last weekend (that I never got around to recapping!) I have no set plans this weekend!  But I do know that with this being the last weekend before I head back to school for good, it's definitely going to involve time in the SUN!!!  And hopefully I can finish my book! And maybe another!!

What I am looking forward to next month...Is it bad that I dread but am still looking forward to the start of school?  I love summer, but I think once I'm back into the routine I'll enjoy it! I am looking forward to seeing the kids, reading new books with them and trying out new lessons!!  The new school year begins September 1st!

What else is new...in a few days, I will have been in my house two years!  Wow!  Where does the time go??  Last year I posted on that day!  I plan on doing the same.  Just not sure what spin I'm gonna put on it yet!

Bonus Question of the Month: What's your favorite Back to School Tradition?
I used to have them, but not so much anymore.  I don't have kids to take pictures of on their first day (Or a mom here to take my picture on the first days of teaching every year! HA!) If I did have a tradition these days, I suppose it's be buying myself a new outfit to wear on the first day and treating myself to a drink after the day is done!!

What's up with you? Let me know in the comments below!

In case you missed it!

I thought it'd be fun to do a little recap of the week on the blog!  Because I blogged every day!  And I'm not really sure when that's ever going to happen again.  School starts back up officially on September 1st.  This week I have to go in, do a few things in my library, take a course and attend the Welcome Back Barbecue.  So I guess you could say SUMMER'S OVER! {insert sad face here}

I've had a ton of fun blogging this summer!  And this week was one of the most eventful!  Take a peek and check out anything you might have missed!

Monday I recapped my Saturday spent with My Summer Love    aka  Kenny Chesney:)

Since my Saturday post was so long (and fabulous!) I split my weekend recap in two and posted about Sunday's Happy Heart Day on Tuesday!

Wednesday was just Wonder-ful.  I had a little feature on Leslie's blog!  I reviewed my all-time favorite book Wonder!  Check out my post about it here and read my review of the book on Leslie's blog here!

After thinking about it a lot and reading so many other fun posts in the link-up, I decided to jump on in and share some memories of Me in High School on Thursday!  I realized I'm very grateful to have those high school memories, but am sooo happy they are behind me!

Friday was the LAST EVER Style Me Bloggers Link-up!  We are on to bigger things as a group and will no longer be posting under this name.!! Quite simply we've outgrown it!   But before we go we shared a bit about the people and things we are inspired by!  

These people are my biggest inspiration. You can read more about them here!  And check out the awesome posts of my fellow bloggy friends while you're there!

Hope you are having a fun weekend and a great week ahead!!

Inspiration

Linking up with the Style Me Bloggers to share who and what inspires me!  I find inspiration in many things...teachers, friends, music, the sunshine, the pages of a great book, old journals, good people!  But for me the short answer is this...

My family!

Now I know this week on the blog has been kind of "family heavy".  But it's just the way it worked out.  And if you've been reading the blog for any amount of time you know that these are "my people" and I don't have many others!  LOL

When you're a little girl, you want to be your big sisters.  Each of my sisters has taken a different path in life (actually Tara and Meghan's is pretty similar these days!) but through it all they have each shown courage, strength, beauty, and determination.  And have become wonderful mothers and wives to boot!  Being the "little sister" that is certainly something to look up to! These days I don't want to be them, but they very much inspire me to be a better person and live my best life.   And they often tell me I'm doing it right...

My mom and dad have been married for 44 years.  And I know those 44 years have not been the easiest.  But they never gave up...on each other, on their marriage or our family.  These days that's rare, unfortunately.  My mom sometimes gets mad when I say I don't want to get married.  She's tells me she and my Dad are a good example.  And she is absolutely right.  I am inspired by their love for one another and their willingness to let the other be themselves.  They are two VERY different people.  My mom is a social butterfly. My dad, not so much.  But they enjoy each other's company.  Good thing too, because now they're both retired and spend all their time together!! 

My family inspires me to be a better person...but also let's me be me, which I appreciate because in all honesty, it's not always easy!  But then again what life is!!

I'm sad that today is the last ever link-up with the Style Me Bloggers!  But I am happy to say we are on to BIGGER and BETTER things as a group!!  Because coming Fall 2015 our collective, The Blended Blog, makes it's debut!  Please stayed tuned for that!  And speaking of inspiration...This group of blog friends that we have formed over the last year and half  has really inspired me as well.  Because of them I've been inspired to blog more, be more thoughtful about my posts, and grow my blog.  I have enjoyed getting to know them and can't wait to see what this new chapter of ours becomes!

Cheers to The Blended Blog!! 

But for now go check out what they are all inspired by!!

Shoes to Shiraz | Two Teens and Their Mama | The Blondissima 

R Squared  | Confessions of a Frumpy Mommy 

  Daily Style Finds | Quilty Joy Joy

Once Upon a Time & Happily Ever After | Foxy's Domestic Side
Puppies & Pretties | Making the Most of Everyday
Mishaps & Mayhem of Solitary Life | A Lovely Little Wardrobe

An InLinkz Link-up


Happy Friday!!
It's one of the LAST of SUMMER....I have a stomach ache  :(

High School Me...EEEKKKKKK!!

OK I'm jumping on the bandwagon!!  And joining Andrea at Momfessionals to Show & Tell you a little bit about me in high school!

 This is gonna be hard because I have THE WORST memory!!!! But I can pinpoint some great times!  {And maybe some not so great times...but I'm gonna skip right over those!!}

My high school memories are confined to this box!

I went to a very small, all-girls high school!  We were sometimes dubbed the country club of high schools.  It was a private Catholic School with grades Pre-K through 12.  Actually my bestie Mel went there all her life.  I just went to the high school.  Numerous times throughout my four years I heard "I can't believe you go to my school Kate"!

 The high school was small.  My sisters all went to a huge school with over 500 kids in each class.  That was not for me!! Mine was an elite school steeped in tradition.  Like the sophomore sleepover {which I didn't attend...thanks Ker!} The Junior-Senior Supper, the Senior Stairs and the Junior Moose Room! We had classes like Humanities, PBM, and Christian Family Living. We had Stations, not Homerooms and Mods, instead of Periods!

over 200 acres of beauty and hallowed halls

I graduated with 53 girls.  So everyone knew everyone!  And we were all friends, but groups still formed.  Many of the girls I still keep in touch with via Facebook, and am enjoying seeing where they are in their lives right now, but mostly I just keep in constant contact and see Mel and Kerri regularly.  Good thing they're blog-approved!!  :)


In high school I didn't do sports (obviously!) but was on the yearbook my Senior Year and was a Regina Teen.  My school was the Academy of St. Joseph...run by the Sisters of St. Joseph.  Our campus housed a nursing home for retired nuns, and the Regina Teens were basically Candy Stripers at the home after school.  So I did that a few years.  I was traumatized I think.  But sometimes it was cute.   I was also part of Play Crew, Spirit Week committees, a photography club for a short time and a member of Student Service.

Some highlights of high school...wish I knew where more pictures were!!

Dances, Sweet Sixteens and Proms

 Father-Daughter Dances (we always went to the diner after!) ,Winter Formals, Random Friday Night Dances with boys from the all-boy schools.  The Cotton-Eyed Joe!!  It Takes Two to Make a Thing Go Right!  I went to big elaborate Sweet Sixteens and others that were just fun sleepovers like my own!  And had a great time at them all!!

Just for Fun...This was the invitation to my Sweet Sixteen!

I had a better time at the Junior Prom than I did at the Senior Prom.  I went with a friend's brother, and my friend went with her brother's friend.  But she kind of ditched him...so I like to say that I had two dates!  HA!  And I had a blast with both of them.

Mel and I at Junior Prom!

Christian Family Living.  During this course we went and played with and had Pre-Kindergarten buddies.  I think this is what cemented me being a teacher.  I loved my buddy!  SCOTT...two T's are better than one!! (the lower school was co-ed!) Oh and we played with lummi sticks!!!  We LOVED that!!

Off-Campus Days were fun too!  That's when we went into New York City and saw Broadway shows.  I saw Miss Saigon, Smokey Joe's Cafe, and Rent.  Rent was my fave.  We met Wilson Cruz after the show.  He was on My So-Called Life which was big during that time and one of my fave shows!

That's his autograph!!  HA!













Senior Year we went to Grad Night in Disney World.  This is when they closed down the park and graduating classes from all over the U.S. have the park to themselves overnight.  The flight home was the most memorable of the trip.  Our plane dropped 10,000 feet in mid-air (in a split second!) and I thought perhaps I might die!  Pretty much a real-life Tower of Terror scenario!!

Spirit Weeks each year were a lot of fun!  filled with skits and dance routines...I remember being part of the freshman year skit.  If I was a rich girl...nananahahahahahnaa


Some of my favorite assignments: Does including this make me a geek!?!

The Wedding Project for CFL.  We had to plan our wedding from soup to nuts! Like guest list, song list...everything! And present it to the class.  I'd be married to Jonathan Jackson (Lucky on General Hospital at the time- Avery Barkley on Nashville now!) by now if my dream wedding came true!  LOL...clearly it was an all-girls school!! And apparently my wedding song would be "I Finally Found Someone" by Barbra Streisand and Bryan Adams from the movie The Mirror has Two Faces. (I don't even remember ever seeing that movie!)  If I ever do get married I might have to keep that!!  HA!!

Precis of Wall Street: We watched the movie with Charlie Sheen and Michael Douglas and totally analyzed every bit of it!  Then we wrote about it.  The last line of my precis said...the Mo' Money you come across, the Mo' problems you see!  I think I got an A-  I was a Biggie Fan!

Another favorite project was a final religion project we did where we had to talk about five things we valued, five favorite quotes and five favorite bible verses. All put together in a tiny little marble notebook. I still have it!!  I also loved going to mass in our beautiful chapel.

I'll never forget losing a friend and classmate the summer before our Junior year!  It really bonded us as a class and let us all know how fast life can change!

Random Fun Facts:
In high school I probably watched Clueless 150 times, saw 100 Lifetime movies and ate buckets of raw cookie dough. I was still a Girl Scout. During our 4 years, a nun went from a Sr. to a Miss :)
Our lockers were big...we would all sit in them every morning and do HW before heading up to class!  I discovered that I hated cigarettes (thank God!!) and was obsessed with *NSYNC. My love of country music began.  I feel like we bowled a lot! I never dated!  I got such a low score on my first try at the SAT's my dad told me to have a great time at community college!  hahahahahaha (I laughed then too...don't worry!!  And I went AWAY to college!)  My Chem teacher called me at home to tell me I passed the regents! The school song is forever in my memory!!

My senior picture and quote from the yearbook:

This picture...ugh!!  It was an ugly 4 years!!

My page from my family in the yearbook senior year!

Sadly our school has now closed it's doors!  But I was able to go to the final celebration in 2009.  And was so glad I did!!  For a school that operated since 1856, it was extremely bittersweet.

Kerri, Me and Mel on Graduation Day on the Senior Stairs! We only wore the typical cap and gown for the Graduation Mass.  Graduation Day each girl wore a floor-length white gown and white gloves, and walked down the aisle carrying roses. {I remember being SO sick at graduation with a fever and the shakes! Booooo...}

On the Senior Stairs one last time!
2009 right before the school shut its doors.

I'm glad I decided to do this!  But I'm also glad these days are in the past!!

Wonder-ful Wednesday!

Happy Wednesday friends!!

Please head on over to visit sweet Leslie's blog today!!  I contributed a book review to her Summer Slide Series!  My review is just one snippet of her fabulous, in-depth post on my favorite book EVER!!  Wonder!!!  You all know my love for Wonder runs deep.  

Find Leslie's Post here!

And while you're there...stay awhile!!  Leslie's blog is great and she is hilarious!  Love her writing style. 

Thanks so much for having me Leslie!

Happy Heart Day Dad!

Yesterday I posted all about my Saturday at the Kenny Chesney concert.  It being so long and detailed, I HAD to split my weekend recap into two.  And Sunday was so fun anyway, it deserves it's own post.

Sunday was dubbed HAPPY HEART DAY in our family!  

Ten years ago this month, my dad had triple bypass surgery.  It was really a crazy time.  He went to the doctor on a Friday not ever expecting to not come home again for more than two weeks!  He thought at the most that day he would need a stint.  But the doctors admitted him immediately and a quadruple bypass was scheduled for that Monday.  When they went in, they found he needed a triple.  Apparently dad had had a heart attack without even knowing it, a few weeks before.  Now he spends his days exercising, eating better, and consuming more pills than is probably normal...but hey, if it's keeps him with us...it works!!

So, because in our family we celebrate everything, on Sunday we celebrated Dad's 10 years of better health and clear arteries!  My sister Tara thought this up on the day of our Cousins Reunion party last weekend. {Something I never got around to posting a weekend recap about!  Maybe a Sunday Funday that was a little too much fun was to blame!!} Everyone thought it was a great idea.  My family is always up for a party.

We arrived at Tara's around 1:30 on Sunday for a day of sun, fun, and swimming.  The weather was beautiful and everyone had a blast.  The pool area was decorated with heart balloons.  All the food was heart healthy. The dessert was a little less healthy but it was heart-shaped and the cheat of the day! We talked a little bit about that time 10 years ago, too! Mostly the fact that half of dad's grandkids didn't exist yet.

Some more  pictures of the fun!!

Pool Fun!

The cake mom made!

The chaos that is dessert with 9 kids!!

I'm not really sure why no one wore red but for some reason every single one of us showed up in coral.  Even Dad.  This sadly is not the first time this has happened, with this exact same color! Maybe we're just an "on trend" family!  HA!

Mom doesn't like to be left out!

The Original Six

And the award for best picture of the summer goes to....

Perfect shot with the water gun!!

Only Mom is unphased by this!!  Everything is always fabulous in Linda-Land!!

I just love my family!  We said numerous times that day that you just don't know what will happen from one day to the next, so you have to be grateful each day you are given on this earth. So we are. And we know that not everyone is as lucky as our dad when it comes to hearts!!  

Dad thoroughly enjoyed being the center of attention on Sunday!  And hopes we can celebrate him again in another 10 years!!