I will return....

Last Wednesday my computer decided to stop working like its normal self. After much troubleshooting with little or no success I deicded to take it in to the IT people that my Dad's work use. That was last Friday and as of today I still do not have it back. My Dad is hopefully going to pick it up tonight after work. They think I had a corrupted Windows file or something. The good thing is that I won't lose anything on the computer and it looks like it will be as good as new once I get it back. The bad or annoying thing is that I have had to live without it for an entire week.

I have been using a burrowed laptop while at work (that is what I am currently quickly writing from while the students are on their break). I just wanted to let you all know that I have not fallen off the face of the blogging earth and that I will hopefully be back early next week. I have a lot to share with all of you and I have a lot of catching up on your blogs to do as well.

Have a great weekend!!!!!! I look forward to being back in full force next week!

Princess Melissa

Weekend Recap

This weekend was not my favorite. Lots of little things happened that if they had been isolated incidents I would of been fine but since they all happened in the same 48 hours they really made me struggle a little. There were some good GREAT points to the weekend too so I guess I really can't complain too much and maybe I am better off just remembering the weekend by those moments instead.

Lowpoints of my Weekend

Kitchen Clean Up- After my friends left on Friday night I was cleaning up the kitchen and I broke a wine glass in the sink (when we got married we had a set of 8 of these particular glasses...we are now down to 5!). I went to get a plastic bag to put the pieces in so no one would get hurt if they were in the trash. I must have knocked the plastic piece that holds the shelf (above where we keep the plastic bags) out because as I was cleaning up the wine glass mess all of a sudden out of nowhere I heard a giant crash and turned around to find that all of the contents of that shelf had fallen out of the the cabinet and were now all over the floor. Of course this was the shelf that had every glass bottled liquid item possible that doesn't need to be in the fridge (like 2 bottles of olive oil, never opened soy sauce, never opened terriaki sauce, some bread dipping sauces, 2 bottles of hot sauce, etc.). Thankfully only two of those glass bottles broke. One was a bread dipping sauce (it spilled but the bottle only cracked and didn't actually shatter) and a brand new never opened FULL bottle of Worcestershire sauce. This bottle though didn't just break it literally SHATTERED sending glass and sauce EVERYWHERE. It was a giant mess and it took what seemed like FOREVER to clean up. I didn't get to bed until super late and it took all day Saturday to get the scent of Worcestershire out of my kitchen. The shelf is now fixed and the kitchen is better. And now the story is almost funny. Yes almost. I'm not quite over it yet. But seriously at that moment I wanted to murder someone.

Husband's Bad Mood- He is pretty close to perfect and he rarely has bad days. But he had one at work on Saturday and then he decided to bring it home with him and decided to be pissy all night. Thankfully by Sunday he was all back to his normal self. 

 There are two other things that happened but one I am not quite over and I just don't feel like writing about it and getting myself all worked up again and the other I have since solved and also don't really need to focus on. 

Highlights of my Weekend

My New Hair- I went with some side-swept bangs and I am loving it! Thanks to any of you that helped me make my decision. I really appreciated what all of you had to say.

(My new hair fresh out of the salon!)

Girls Night- Dinner, wine, and lots of laughing...need I say more?!

(Barefoot Moscato. Just tried this for the first time on Friday night. For the price it was surprisingly yummy. If you like slightly sweeter whites (like I do) then give it a whirl...)  

Saturday Morning Hike- The rain was nice enough to break for long enough for my 2 good friends and I to take a 1.5 mile hike. The view was amazing, the company was perfect, and I felt sooooo good afterward. 

(View from our hike)

SuperBowl Party- The food was delicious, the company was wonderful, and we found out that when the SAINTS go marching in-----THEY WIN!!!! Such a good game!!!! They had me worried after the first half but they really came out fired up for the second half and boy did they take care of business! The two point conversion and the interception touchdown had me jumping up and down and screaming like a crazy woman. And Drew Brees crying while holding his adorable baby boy after the game just melted my heart.

 

 

So on all of those positive notes I am already feeling much better and am definitely ready for another week.

Hope your having a great Monday!!!

Weekend Plans and Superbowl

This week has been a pretty regular week. I had work all 5 days. Tuesday night my husband and I did our normal duty of running the youth group at our church. Wednesday we had our weekly coed softball game (WE WON of course!!!!). Yep a pretty regular week. And for me a pretty regular week means a pretty dang busy and hectic week SOOOOO I am definitely ready for the weekend!!!

Tonight I am having a much needed girls night with my sister and some of our close friends at my house. On the menu is this delicious Grilled Chicken and Potatoes with Garlic and Oregano Vinaigrette that has gotten very happy reviews when I have made it in the past. Since it is raining today I will probably just cook the potatoes and chicken inside instead of on the grill. I think it will taste mostly the same (hopefully). On the agenda is enjoying some wine, sitting around and catching up on life, and watching a chick flick of some sort. It should be a great starter to the weekend!!!! 

 

(This recipe is super easy and super yummy!!!)

Other plans for the weekend include getting my hair done (I think I am going for it on the bangs!) and a Superbowl party at our place.  

 I come from a huge football family and I would have to say that it is my favorite sport to watch by far. I am a little sad to see it go already. Watching baseball is not nearly as exciting in my opinion. But I am excited for funny commercials and hopefully a good game. 

GOOOOO

 

(I know now you're thinking "oh she's one of those bandwagon fans" but in my defense I have honestly liked the Saints since I went to New Orleans in 2001. When they got Drew Brees I began liking them even more. I mean they aren't my beloved Chargers but generally as long as their not playing against the Chargers I am rooting for them.)

Aside from some appetizers (stuff that I am throwing together making or that other people are bringing) I think the hubby and I are gonna make a Tri-Tip (or two) using this delicious recipe that we have. (I will try to remember to share it on here next week some time. Its another super easy and super yummy one. Yes there's a theme when it comes to me cooking. I only do the super easy and the super yummy...lol) I will also probably make a salad of some sort (I haven't decided what kind yet) and then I am making this rice that is my grandma's recipe (also super easy and super yummy) and that I am literally in love with. It should be a day filled with good food, good company, and lots of laughs. Definitely my type of Sunday!!!

Have a great weekend!!!!!!!!!

Your Advice is Needed!!!!

This weekend I have a much needed hair appointment. I have been debating what I should do to my hair since I am ready for some kind of change (well at least I think I am...lol). At first I thought maybe it was time to go shorter BUT I have done short hair in the past and I am not really a fan and neither is the hubby to be honest. I think short hair makes my face look rounder (especially when I am currently holding on to some un-needed extra lbs right now) AND because I have a lot of hair it does this whole poofy thing that is just not very manageable. As weird as it sounds my hair is more manageable when it is longer. 

I have thought about coloring my hair because currently I am going au naturel. BUT I have always gotten tons of compliments on my hair color (some people have even thought it was dyed) and so I don't really see a point in spending the time and money to upkeep something that is good already. I would maybe consider highlights of some sort but I was thinking more along the lines of BANGS. 

I use to have massive bangs when I was a kid. My mom was a big fan of bangs. 

 

(Thanks to my Mom here is the start of my massive bangs-note I was a fan of pink even back then...lol)

(I look like I'm in a commercial for Knotts Berry Farm circa 1989-once again note the massive bangs covering the entire forehead!!)

In 8th grade I finally decided to rid myself of the bangs that I had lived my entire life with (well the part that I could remember anyways). It took what seemed like FOREVER but I grew them out. And aside from having some layered pieces around my bang line I have pretty much stayed away from bangs ever since. I think that my reluctance to bangs may of been from kind of out of some type of fear...lol

 

(The closest I have come to bangs since 8th grade! Also sorry for the finger in this pic-I think one of the kids at the daycare I worked at in college took this pic...lol)

So my blogging friends, I need YOUR help! I have told by some people that I don't need bangs because I have a small forehead. And while this I think is meant as a compliment I am still contemplating getting bangs because I think it would be a good change. 

  

(This is my me and my hair (or is it my hair and I) as of more recent)

SOOOOO.........

Should I get bangs????? 

I want to be able to reference someone when and if I request bangs from my lovely hairgirl. Here are some possible bang reference options (if you have a better suggestion PLEASE share it):

 

  

  

  

  

Well thats all I could find that I thought may work. PLEASE let me know what you think!!! 

Thanks in advance! :)

Weekend Recap and My Celebrity Look-Alike

So I'm back after a kind of low key weekend. I went to bed Wednesday night feeling fine and then woke up Thursday morning with no warning whatsoever in a full blown nasty cold. So much of the last few days was spent taking it easy and hoping that my cold would leave as quickly as it came. I only have 5 sick days total for the year and so I try to avoid missing work unless I am really feeling that bad.
Some of the highlights of the weekend were hanging with my Sister and our friend Staci (we had a girls night in and ate dinner and watched the DVRed SAG awards as well as the movie Julie and Julia), relaxing and having a lazy Saturday morning with the hubby and the pup, helping at and attending the Youth Group Bunco (a fun group dice game) and taco dinner fundraiser on Saturday night, and going to "Color Me Mine" with my Mom  for some girl time and the chance to paint some pretty stuff (I painted a handheld mirror that I hope to put on my makeup vanity-I will post pics as soon as I pick it up-It takes 5 days for them to "fire" it and set the paint.)

(The only thing that would have made Bunco better was if we were playing with pink dice....well and glasses of wine but hey you can't always get everything you want..lol)

(This is all the choices of stuff to paint-Suffice to say it took us FOREVER to pick something out-and then it took even more time to choose what we were going to do to that something as far as design-and then even more time to choose paint colors and such.)

Quite a few people on Facebook are doing this whole celebrity look-alike(s) or doppleganger thing and I decided to bring it to my blog. The whole Doopleganger thing is actually pretty weird and scary as far as the legend goes but I guess that is neither here nor there. (Go read about it if you're interested: Doppleganger Info) Its interesting to see who everyone thinks or has been told they resemble. Some are more on (in my opinion) than others but hey everyones having fun so thats all that matters. 

I must have one of those faces that has a lot of common features because I am always having people tell me that I look familiar to them or asking me if I am related to so and so who looks like they could be my sister, brother, relative, etc. With that being said I have gotten told a look like quite a few different celebrities including Sarah Michelle Gellar, The Kardashian Sisters, and Toccara from America's Next Top Model (I am not even kidding on this one-I actually had a student tell me I reminded him of her....lol) just to name a few examples. But the person that I have been told by the most people I look like is the actress (Jamie Lynn Sigler) that plays Meadow Soprano on the show The Soprano's. During the height of the shows popularity I got told this many times by friends, family, and even complete strangers. 

 Do you agree????

 

  

Anyways I am getting more and more into the blogging world. I have found some really great new blogs (well new to me) that I really enjoy reading and I am loving that I connecting with new people. Thank you for all your sweet comments. 

Have a great day!!!!!

My First Blog Award!!!!

I have been graciously awarded my first blog award from the lovely Ms. Jennifer at West Sac Honey. I am super honored! And super excited!!!! THANK YOU sooo much Jennifer!!! I know I still don't have a lot of followers but just to know that I am slowly making some connections with some of you out there really makes me happy. That was definitely one of the reasons I was attracted to blogging. The more I blog the more I love it!!!

So here are the rules:

Put the award on your blog

Thank the person who you received this from

Tell 7 interesting things about yourself

Nominate 7 bloggers

Ok so 7 interesting things about me (since I have only been blogging a short time you I guess most things about me will be interesting...well I hope anyway):

1.  My husband and I have been together since 2001 (we were 15 & 16 at the time) and met in our church youth group. We have actually known each other since 98 or 99. I always thought he was cute but that there was no way he could handle me. (You see he is a pretty quiet guy and I am loud and social and outgoing.) In a partner I need someone that can put me in my place and I just didn't think he could handle it. As we got to know each I realized that there was a side to him that I hadn't seen before and I started falling for him. He had liked me for a long time and so we started hanging out more and more and soon it all just happened. We got married on 7-7-07 and I couldn't be a more lucky girl (I think he's a pretty lucky guy as well...lol). Our relationship has been through a lot in the last 9 years but I know that he is my prince and is definitely the one person that I plan on spending the rest of my life with. 

(Our perfect little family!!)

2. I love love love to read. Since the time I could read (age 4-5) it has been something that I have loved. I love how reading provides a much needed escape from life sometimes. I love how it puts you into a different persons life in a different place and time. I love the lessons I have learned from the books I have read. I love the feeling of starting a new book. I love the feeling of the characters in a book becoming my friends and a part of my life. I love the feelings and emotions I get while I read. And I love the feeling of finishing a book (although that one is kind of bitter sweet). I mainly read more girly nonfiction but I will read anything if it catches my eye or gets a good recommendation from a friend.

3. I am 50% Italian, 25% Irish, and 25% German! 100% American. Because I am have olive skin, brown hair, and brown eyes people always ask me what my background is. I have gotten Persian, Armenian, Hawaiian, Hispanic, Italian, etc. My Dad is the Irish and German one. He is a big white guy with light brown hair and green eyes (We look nothing alike! In fact he coached me for most of my 12 year softball career and most people wouldn't even put me as his daughter until they saw us interact with each other.) My Mom is Italian and I definitely get my looks from her. 

(My parents, my 2 little sisters, my little brother, my husband and I on my Wedding Day)

(My Sister and I living it up 1989 style)

(Even at age 6 I had an attitude! lol)

4. I have a crazy obsession with the color PINK. I loved pink when I was a little girl. And I have pretty much loved it ever since (I did go through a small faze when I was into blue but it didn't last long). I am drawn to the color pink. and as time goes on I love it more and more. I can't help it! Pretty much if it comes in pink or has pink on it than thats the one I want. I am definitely more likely to "need" something if it is pink. Just to show you a taste of my pink obsession. Right now from where I am sitting at my desk I have a pink dell laptop, a pink mouse, a pink plastic water bottle, pink desk supplies (stapler, tape dispenser, etc), a pink coffee mug, a pink phone cover, a pink post-it dispenser with pink post-its, a pink frame, a pink clipboard, a pink  lanyard on my keys, a pink Juicy makeup bag, and a gray with pink design Juicy purse. My husbands only request when we were registering for wedding gifts was that if it was an item that was gonna be out all the time that it not be pink. He said that otherwise he didn't care. So we have stainless steal or black in our more neutral kitchen as far as the appliances and mini appliances that are on the counters all the time go.  However tucked away in the cabinets just waiting to be used we have a pink hand mixer, pink mixing bowls, pink mixing spoons, a pink can opener, a pink ice cream scoop, pink plastic cups and plates, a pink treats jar for our puppy, as well as other pink stuff that I can't remember right now. I definitely have an obsession!! 

5. I am a huge lover of the ocean/the beach, and marine mammals. When I was younger I wanted to work at Sea World and either be a Dolphin Trainer or a Whale Trainer.  I have always thought Marine Mammals were so pretty and so cool. I think I have always thought it would be amazing to live in the Ocean. The Little Mermaid is one of my favorite movies and Ariel is my favorite Disney Princess. I am just drawn to the ocean. It gives me a calm feeling when I am near  it and makes me happy. My husband is also a big fan and so our living room and family rooms are both decorated with a more beachy feel. The living room has a ocean white sand beach feel while the family room is more tropical. If I couldn't decorate in pink than the beach was a good second that my husband and I could both agree on.

6. I hate clutter and I am a clean freak. I am just one of those people that can't handle when things aren't clean and when everything isn't in its place. I am a stickler for putting things back where they go. Everything has its place and needs to go back to it when its done being used. I love to be organized and I love a clean home. And I try to go through closets, drawers, and other clutter collectors often so that I can trash or donate items that I no longer need. I married someone that is just as crazy about this one so that makes my life and job of keeping everything clean, clutter free, and neat a lot easier. I think we both grew up with those types of moms that kept everything and so we have both went in the completely opposite direction for how we like our living and working spaces.

7. One of my secret desires in life is to be either a talk show host or to host a travel show. Well I guess its not so secret anymore...lol But nonetheless I think it would be soooo much fun to be able to call one of those my job. As a talk show host I would love to talk girl stuff and interview celebrities and important people every day.  I would be able to make people happy and feel good about themselves. I love to talk and I just can't imagine a job that would fit me better. Well except that of being a travel show host. I LOVE to travel. My Dad is afraid of flying so as a kid we pretty much stayed in the US. But I have big dreams of traveling all over the world. And I am so envious of the people that get to travel to amazing places, eat amazing food, and stay at even more amazing hotels. I would love to go to all these amazing places and share them with people from all walks of life.  And once again I would be able to use my love of talking!!!! (Ok I think I have used amazing a little too much on this one..lol)

Anyways I hope that the info I shared with help you to get to know me better. With that being said I nominate: 

Kristine from Confessions of a Teacher's Life 

Alexandra from HRH Collection

Kate Gene from Kate Gene (A Beauty Blog) 

Caroline from Coeur De La

Mayra from Life is Bananas 

Suzanne from Steece's Pieces 

Caitlin from Candyfloss and Persie 

YAY for Friday!!!!

Despite the crazy amount of rain, this week has been a pretty good one. Monday was a wonderful day off. I spent most of it on the couch cuddling with the hubby and the puppy while watching movies and catching up on shows that we Tivo to watch together. I decided that I don't mind the rain nearly as much when I can be listening to it from a warm and cozy place inside. We watched the Disney Pixar movie "Up", which was super cute. Although it made me cry at the beginning (I am a super sappy person and I cry VERY easily), it had a really cute story line and even my husband (who is picky when it comes to animated movies) liked it and said it was better than he expected it to be.

Unfortunately it was back to work Tuesday. The rain definitely makes the job of being a teacher MUCH harder. The rain makes the kids very stir crazy and gives them cabin fever like no other. Our school has no place for the kids to be during breaks or lunch time so they stay in our classrooms. I never realized how much the break helps my sanity until I didn't have them. They are always nosier, messier, and less likely to follow directions when its raining. AND because of the storms our internet server was down some of the week leaving us with no access to our gradebook or attendance or any other online stuff. (I know that sounds like no big deal but we are spoiled and all those fancy online things make life sooo much easier!) With all of that being said, if it had to be a week of rain this was a good week for it to be. This week was only 4 days long AND its finals week so it ended up that 3 of the 4 days were shortened days. The shortened weeks are sooo much happier because they seem to go by soooo much faster.

 

Last nights Best Friend/Moms date was super fun and filled with lots of laughs. It was funny being out with our moms. As my mom drove with Julie's mom in the passenger seat and Julie and I sat and talked and messed around in the back seat I felt like I was 15 again. One of the funniest parts of the night was trying to get to our car from the restaurant we ate dinner at. We had parked a couple of parking lots from the restaurant because we had missed the parking lot for the restaurant and with all the one-way streets in downtown it was easier just to walk a little more. Of course it wasn't raining at all when we first parked and it actually looked like it was clearing up a little so we left the umbrellas in the car. Well sure enough the minute we needed to go to the car so we could go to the play it was POURING outside. And not only was it pouring but it had gotten quite windy so the rain was coming in sideways. We power walked to the car and amidst all the chaos a lot of laughing took place. I hadn't laughed that hard in a while.

I know now your probably wondering how the play was?! All in all I wouldn't say it was my favorite musical/play that I have ever seen, but it was definitely good and definitely worth seeing if you like Disney as much as I do! The story is quite different than the movie. (The songs are in different parts then the movie and some of the characters and scenes are changed a lot.) But as long as you are ready for that it is really enjoyable. The actors (especially the ones playing Mary and Bert) were fantastic and the way that they add some of that Mary Poppins-like magic is really neat. And the very end of the play is super cute!

Well its time for my lunch and movie date with one of my besties. (She's a co-worker of mine that I am really close with and the students like to call her that as a joke becuase they see us around the school so much together..lol) Thanks to the shortened day we are picking up Thai from this yummy place by my work and then heading over to her house to watch Confessions of a Shopaholic. (She hasn't seen this movie and she is a DEFINITELY a shopaholic so I'm excited to watch it with her because I know she will totally love it as much as I did. I have never watched a movie that has made me have such a desire to go shopping...lol)

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!!!!

Play Time!!!!

Tonight I am going to see "Mary Poppins" at the Ahmanson. I am going with my Best Friend Julie and our Moms. We have never done anything just the 4 of us (although we have talked about it like a million times but we always have trouble actually making the plans) so I think it will be a really fun and special night. I am super excited to finally be seeing this play. I have been wanting to see it for over 2 years now.

I am a huge fan of musicals and plays. I love love love going to see them. They are one of those simple things that just make me happy.

To date I have seen:

Wicked & The Little Mermaid

(Saw them both in New York on Broadway with their original cast.)

 

The Lion King, The Producers, Dirty Dancing, & Fiddler on the Roof 

(Saw all of these at the Pantages)

 

Of course I have seen smaller productions of others but these were what I would consider professional productions and from what I remember they were all AMAZING!

Anyway thats it for today. My break is over and I have to get back to work.

Happy 2010!!!!

So I unintentionally took a month vacation from writing on here. Life got a little more than busy and unfortunately keeping up with my blog falls a little low on the priority list especially since I have only been keeping this blog for a short time. I don't really like the idea of resolutions but I do think setting goals are important. And I think the beginning of a new year is as good of a time as any to start setting new goals for yourself or even to evaluate where you are on achieving the goals you have already set for yourself.

I have this poster in my classroom and I think it really explains exactly why goals are sooooo important!

I don't have this one but I like it too!

 Some of the goals I have for this year (or plan to continue this year) are:

-To continue to live a healthier lifestyle (this includes working out 5 days a week and following weight watchers).

-To change my teaching credential from a preliminary one to a clear California credential.

-To write on here AT LEAST once a week this year. 

-To focus on the important things in life as well as the important things in life and to not worry so much about the things that don't matter.

-To surround myself with positivity and positive people and to continue to be active and involved.

Wishing you all a happy and blessed 2010! CHEERS!!!