I actually won!!!

The other day, Sherry was giving away this cute set of lunch box tags on her blog.

I was catching up on my blog reading and realized that I had won them!! Thanks, Sherry!!!!

Love - Day 14

I LOVE this guy....Here it is the end of the month, so I figured I better talk about one of the first guys I fell in love with at first sight. :-)
Alex is truly my child. He may have Cory's looks, but his attitude and actions are all me. There are times when I would love to boot this child to the curb, but I always come back to reasons why I love this kid. Alex is so fun loving. He is quick to smile and laugh, just like Ian. Alex's smile lights up his face and makes me smile too. Unfortunately, this child is growing up and finding all those attitudes and ideas of a soon-to-be teenager. Alex and I butt heads all the time, and that is clearly because we are so much alike. I know that I am quick to yell at him, and sometimes without reason :-( But then there are times when he will completely forget that and do something small, like come and give me a hug goodnight, that makes me forget why I was mad and had yelled. I know that as he gets older that he will continue to do things that amaze me and make me so proud to be his mom. I cannot tell this child enough that I love him. I just hope that he truly realizes that even when Cory and I won't buy him those games he wants when we're out at the store. lol :-)

Friday Fill-ins 2/27

1. I'm glad that February is almost over, I'm happy that April is almost here and I get to see my mom again.

2. Why do I have so much scrapbook stuff and not any time to scrapbook?

3. How does this program work, anyway?

4. Every morning, I put the key in the car and drive myself to school.

5. I consider myself lucky because I have a family I love and friends who are only a phone call away.

6. One day we'll see ourselves in a our own home.

7. As for the weekend, I am looking forward to dinner out with my favorite boys. Tomorrow my plans include going to the outlet mall and some road tripping up to the mountains, and Sunday I want to organize myself for the SSNA retreat next weekend.

Love - Day 13

I LOVE this place....This is our main building at Duluth High School. Our school was once a community college, so there are separate buildings housing each department. This is the main building that houses our auditorium, main office, social studies and science departments.
Last year, I met a friend of mine who teaches here in Gwinnett County. She convinced me that I needed to move from Nebraska to Georgia and teach here. I was a bit hesitant about the idea of moving so far from home, but I applied nonetheless. I really didn't expect to be offered a job, so when I was and for a comparable salary that I was leaving in Nebraska, we packed up and moved to Buford, Georgia, July 2008.
As this year has progressed, I have loved being back in the high school setting again. I am teaching algebra 1 and algebra 2 - my favorites!! I have been fortunate to teach some pretty awesome kids. This year has been one of the few where I have not had any major discipline problems and the students are actually pretty polite (kinda surprising at times for teenagers...lol).
I am truly thankful for the move and our live now here in Georgia. Another plus has been that I have been able to meet several of my online friends from Scrapshare in real life. These women are fabulous, and so welcoming to anyone new in the area. I just wish we all lived a bit closer to get together a little more often.

Love - Day 12

This Love was totally unexpected....I didn't understand the need or want of an iPod until I had the extra money last year to buy one. Now, I LOVE my iPod. I love how cute and small it is. :-) I love to organize things, so the fact that I can make my own lists and everything on there is great. It's been great this year to have my iPod at school because my radio station doesn't always come in. The freedom to listen to a whole album or just a single song of my choosing is wonderful. I love iPod and can't believe how much more music I listen to now because of it.

Anyone want a job???

I will gladly pay someone to come and grade this mountain of algebra tests and homework I need to grade. Sherman's not really helping me that much.
I guess if I would quit procrastinating, get off the computer, and quit playing with my iPod, that I could make a dent in this pile....

I think I could even find some chocolate or scrapbook supplies to pay you with :-)

Love - Day 11

Here is one of my long-time LOVES....Well, not this book exactly since it just came out last month, but I have loved John Grisham books FOREVER! Ever since I read The Firm, I was hooked. I typically have been able to pour through one of his books in a day or so. I've been working on his latest book for awhile since life has been so hectic lately, and I've had way too much to think about to enjoy escaping into my book worlds.
I have always loved reading. I remember sneaking a flashlight under my covers to keep reading after my mom had told me to go to bed. I just could never put a good book down. With life being the way it has been lately, I have to put my love of reading off to the wayside. I look longingly at my books every night before I drift off to sleep because I am too exhausted to even read a page or two :-(
Once life seems to call down a bit though, you can guarantee you will find me with a book in hand at some point. Now if I could just instill this love I have to my dear children....

I have found a new addiction....

This whole blogging thing has become my new addiction :-)
I'm a self-proclaimed procrastinator anyway, so anything I can do to procrastinate is good (like right now, I should be grading tests). I've just come across a couple of great blogs that I thought I would pass along to everyone.

Altered to Perfection -- MidniteScrapper is a friend I've met on Scrapshare and I can't believe the cute altered items she has on her Etsy store

Mojo Monday -- since cards are slowly becoming something I am toying with, this blog offers weekly sketches that could be adapted for my scrapbook pages

PaperKrazy Creations -- MidniteScrapper posted about this Etsy shop

Another Blog Giveaway!!

I saw this posted on my friend Nadya's Blog.....

Sherry is giving away a cute tag set from a seller she found on Etsy. Check out Sherry's blog for a chance to win the cute tags and PaperKrazy Creations on Etsy.

Love - Day 10

I LOVE this Kid....

I guess with the end of the month approaching I better talk about my kids, ha ha!! I'll start with Ian here. :-)

Ian is my "baby." I love this child for exactly who is. I wouldn't or want him to change for anything or anyone. Ian is my precocious child. He's been identified as gifted and trying to keep up with his thirst for knowledge can be exhausting. His favorite subjects are math (gotta love that :-) ) and science. He loves to draw, write, read, play, everything a 6 year old loves to do. There really isn't much Ian does not like. His love though is kitties. He loves Sherman and Patches, although they tend to shy away from his "craziness" and "wildness." He will quickly share with anyone who comes over his stuffed kitty collection and the scrapbooks I've made to show his collection.

There are times when I feel down or angry. To feel better I simply have to look at Ian's smile. I love his smile. His smile lights up his face and puts a smile on anyone looking at him. His laugh is just as infectious. He starts laughing and pretty soon everyone else is too.

I love how he is content to hang out with mom :-) Even as I type this, he is sitting next to me drawing his Bakugon board that he wants for his birthday in two months. I will cherish whatever time I can get with him because I know that when he gets older it won't be "cool" to hang out with mom. Ian can just ask Alex that...LOL

Blog makeover in progress....

Since I've discovered the addicting world of blogging, I thought I would give my blog a face-lift. I'm still experimenting with colors, so if you have any suggestions, feel free to give them. I'm off to bed now, so any more experimenting will wait until tomorrow.

Blog Give-away!

I saw this posted on my friend Lindsay's blog

You should go check out The Maisy Report! She's got a great blog and a super cool giveaway going on right now!

Cori Needs....

I saw this posted on my friend Meg's blog, and thought it would be fun to try too.

Saw this on Facebook and decided to post it here on my blog instead. It's quite simple Just go to Google and type in quotes "[Your name] needs" and then post the first 10 things that show up. Here's what, according to Google I need:

1. Cori needs a forever home wth a loving and caring individual who will give her plenty of attention and an occasional treat. Ain't this the truth...a real house would be great. Treats are always welcome too :-)

2. Cori needs to eat 1 banana for each mile she travels. Bananas are good for me. I never seem to have enough in the house. Guess I've been traveling quite a few miles.

3. Cori needs major reform. Of what?!

4. Cori needs instruction, modeling, and reinforcement. Don't we all?!

5. Cori needs numbers!! Just like any good math teacher :-)

6. What Cori needs now: Inspiration, perspiration and creativity. How did Google know this?!

7. Cori needs to turn 3 more or gain 75 more Vampire points to reach the next level.

8. Cori needs to bite some chumps!!

9. Cori needs your help to win this major international online competition. Didn't realize I had done this. Must have been I won those millions from Afica or something.

10. Cori needs fixing. And unfortunately, that could take a life time to fix.

Love - Day 9

Today I thought I would share with you the LOVE of my life that I thought would never happen....

From the time I was a young girl, we had always had a dog in our house. I loved our first dog. He was a beagle named Apple Jak. He was with us until I was in college. I loved that dog. He was MY DOG. AJ would sleep with me, be happy to see me, always want to be with me. I couldn't image life without my dog. I hadn't thought about ever owning a cat. My family hadn't considered ourselves cat people. Cats were solitary creatures. They preferred to be left alone. Cats weren't "fun" like a dog.

When Cory and I started dating, he talked about his pets. He too was a dog person, but had also owned cats. He had always thought about owning both cats and dogs. When we were married, we lived in apartments, so we didn't want to pay more to own a pet.

Things would change when Ian was a year old. His attention and focus was on kitties. He loved kitties. He was content to play with all of his stuffed kitties. He loved cats. He was ecstatic when he would go to someone's house who owed a cat. He went for years wanting a real kitty. I wasn't too keen on the idea, but Cory thought we should get Ian a kitty for his 5th birthday. We looked at a couple of kitties at Vatterott (the school I was teaching at), and couldn't decide on which one we wanted, so we ended up with both Sherman (our orange tabby) and Patches (our calico).

They play so well together. Even Sherman will call when you call his name, just like a dog. LOL :-) We have been fortunate to own very social cats. They are not the solitary animals, I once envisioned.

I couldn't believe how quickly I warmed up to them. Even now, Patches seems to be "mine." She is quite happy to snuggle up with me and lie in my lap while I watch tv. Even now, as I type this, she is snuggling with me. I never thought I would come to love cats. Now I can't imagine life without them.

Love - Day 8

Today I want to show you the part of our apartment home that I just LOVE....
Our apartment has this small sunroom which is just wide enough for my 4 ft table to sit in with my computer. When we moved in, I told Cory that this space was mine! It's perfect for all my scrapbook stash, especially since there is a small storage closet just to the right of the windows that I keep all my bags and cricut and other large stuff in. I love that I have a place to call my own. The boys know not to touch "Mom's stuff" or "Mom's computer" and even the cats are happy because when I have my stuff all strewn around, the boys aren't allowed near here (lol, so the cats are safe from being tormented, plus the cats love the big windows). I don't scrapbook nearly enough as I would like, even though I look at my stuff everyday. But knowing that I can scrapbook when I want is a great feeling. Some day when we have a house, Cory has already told me that I can get more of the organizational stuff that I just don't have room for now. He's such a great hubby that "gets" my hobby and will even encourage the hobby at times. I LOVE how I have a hobby that allows me to celebrate our lives together and a place that I can have to work when I want.

Love - Day 7

Today I want to share my LOVE of......I LOVE Diet Coke!!! I cannot get enough of this stuff. I have always been a Coke fan, thanks to my mom! When I started Weight Watchers years ago, I switched from regular to Diet and haven't looked back since. I love how good it tastes, and when I want a special treat I'll stop at Sonic or QT and get a fountain Diet Coke with cherry and vanilla in it. I would prefer the caffeine in Diet Coke to coffee. There have been times when I have tried to stop the addiction, but to no avail. I have succombed to the need for the caffeine, and at least try to limit to once a day now :-)

Love - Day 6

One of my all time favorites I LOVE.......I miss this show so much. I could always guarantee that laughing during FRIENDS would make me feel better. Even today, while feeling pity for myself for a variety of reasons, I pulled out my FRIENDS dvds to start watching. I knew that laughing at their antics would make me feel better. There are times in our lives when our friends are the most important part of our lives. I know that sometimes I feel like I have no close friends anymore, once again when I am feeling sorry for myself, but I know that I have several friends on speed dial would come to my aid if and when I needed them. While new episodes of FRIENDS are no more, I can relive every episode on my dvds (thank you Cory!! :-) ).

Friday Fill-ins 2/20

1. Give me some Diet Coke and I will be a very happy camper!

2. Whenever I am feeling down, Cory can tell and will give me a hug.

3. I wish my family lived closer.

4. Buttery croissants from Joey D's Oak Room were the last thing I ate that were utterly delicious.

5. To live in this world you need to live each day as if it could be your last, not be afraid to take risks.

6. Other than this one, my friend, Nadya's blog is the last blog I commented on.

7. As for this weekend, tonight I am looking forward to being in downtown Atlanta for the Georgia State Beta Club convention, tomorrow my plans include returning the rental van and going to Marta's house to make some cards, and Sunday I want to scrapbook a few pages and upload pictures to have printed for my retreat in two weeks.

Love - Day 5

Today I want to tell you about my newest LOVE.....

Cory and I had talked about purchasing a new bed when we got our tax return back. After enjoying a scrumptious Valentine's dinner, I convinced Cory to go looking at furniture, since conveniently there was a furniture store at the mall. The salesman did the convincing when he mentioned the store's President's Day sale. We were even able to get quite a deal on a floor sample mattress. This is Cory's and I's first major furniture purchase, and I LOVE it! I was a little shaky handing over that check the other night, but when it was delivered yesterday and I slept on this super comfy bed in my comfy fleece sheets, I knew it was worth every. single. penny. we spent on it.

Free Stamp!

I found this new blog, Let's Get Jazzy (thanks for the link, Jayne :-) )

She is offering a free stamp!!! Can't wait to try them out.

Love - Day 4

Today one of my favorite shows started back up again......

I LOVE this show!! I'm a self-proclaimed tv junkie, but I don't really watch a lot of reality tv. Over the summer, we all started watching re-runs of the Amazing Race on the Travel Channel. Thanks to our TiVo we were able to catch all of last season (I was happy that Nick & Starr won). Tonight, season 14 starts. I love this show because I get to live vicariously and travel with them each week. I also love this show because it is one of the few shows that all 4 of us will sit down and watch together, since normally Cory is watching his history/news programs, me with my dramas, and the boys with their cartoons.

Can't wait to see who wins this season, and who I will be so happy to watch lose the race each week! :-)

Love - Day 3

Wow! I have not been feeling the best this week. Everything has seemed to catch up with me this week, so most of my free time after school this week has been spent sleeping. I have missed my daily routine of checking in and writing posts on my blog (as boring as they may be...ha ha).

I have been thinking about what I would post today to catch up on the monthly LOVE challenge. I thought I would go and write about what I LOVE about Valentine's Day.

Most of my years in college, my friend, Heidi, and I would celebrate the day by making fun of it. I was a cynic about how someone could love someone and want to be "mushy-mushy" in love. Little did I know that I would find someone that would make me feel this way. I remember Valentine's Day every year now (especially now, as I am writing this) as the day of our first kiss. Technically, it was February 15, since I didn't want the cliche of having my first kiss on Valentine's Day. Silly I know, but I had been so burned by relationships along the way before meeting Cory that I didn't want to rush into something that could cause me hurt.

Now, after 14 years, I love Cory so much. I cannot imagine life without him. Just tonight he reminded me of how my life could have been so much different had I not gone to the University of Nebraska and met him. I do not even want to imagine life without Cory or Alex or Ian.

This year, I am so excited about going on a date with Cory tonight. This will be our first night alone!! ever since we've moved to Georgia back in July. Holy cow! I can't believe it's been that's long. I can't wait. The boys are spending the night at my friend Jen's house, so I know that I don't need to worry about them. Cory and I are just looking forward to being alone and enjoying a nice dinner (we're going to try a "new" restuarant for the night. Figure if we go early we might avoid the crowds).

While the roses and attention are nice, I appreciate those gestures at other completely unknown times. Roses mean so much more to me when I am not expecting them in the least. Tonight I am just going to enjoy being alone with my husband for one entire night. :-)

(here Cory is doing what he loves - relaxing, playing video games, and being with Ian and Sherman. He likes Alex & Patches too, they just weren't around. LOL)

Blog Award

My friend Lindsay over at Day In & Day Out has honored me with the Blog Friendship Award.

Here is the description of the award:“These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award.”

So, now I tag the following eight blogging friends:
Nadya

Kendra

Beth

Meg

Traci

Benita

Bry

Cyndi

I enjoy these ladies and I really like reading their blogs and keeping in touch with them in the blog universe!

I've been Tagged!!

I was reading my friend Nadya's Blog (she has been altering some of the most cutest items lately!!) and she tagged me. :-)

The rules are that you find the 6th photo in the 6th album on your computer. Huh, I wonder what that is.....

It's not an awful picture of me or something. LOL

This picture is of Ian from his first season of soccer back in October of 2006. Ian loved going to practice and playing with his teamates. When it came time for games though, Ian was content to follow after everyone and enjoy his time on the sideline. Cory and I enjoyed watching him have a good time out on the soccer field. Even now, Ian will tell you that he loves playing soccer. I just wish that he was on a team again (we're still trying to find leagues here in Georgia, not that there is a shortage or anything. Just need to find the right fit). Hopefully in the fall, Ian and Alex will both be playing soccer again, and I can resume my soccer mom role. :-)

I'm tagging....

Kendra

Cyndi

Lindsey

Jayne

Traci

Friday Fill-ins 2/13

1. It seems like I never stop grading papers (why do I give 100+ kids a quiz on the same day?!)

2. Turn the lights off when you're done, please.

3. If I thought you would work for me, I'd be thrilled!

4. Friendship is what I think of most when I think of you.

5. To me, Valentine's Day means just another day. I would rather have Cory and the boys show me love and affection throughout the year than on one day.

6. Cory gives me strength.

7. As for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to hanging out as a family going to dinner and doing some shopping, tomorrow Cory and I have a date planned (our first one in months :-) ), and Sunday we'll just hang out, clean, and hopefully do some scrapbooking.

Friday Fill-ins 2/6

1. Please don't tell me what happened on ER last night. I haven't watched it yet..

2. Can you let me sleep longer in the morning?

3. The color RED makes me want to go back home (GO BIG RED!)

4. I have a craving for pizza.

5. If my life had a pause button, I'd pause it so I could have enough time to work on my dissertation without having to miss other parts of my life.

6. Eyes are the window to the soul (thanks for this one, Benita!).

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to hanging out with the boys, tomorrow my plans include scrapping with a few friends at Cathryn's house,and Sunday, I want to not do anything, but I will probably clean and work on my dissertation.

Love - Day 2

This month I get to talk about things I love. I went pretty easy on the first one, and blogged about Cory!!

The second love this month is my kitties. I tell ya, I never thought I would be a cat person. I grew up with dogs, and always envisioned myself having a dog. Dogs are fun. They will play with you, kiss you, cuddle with you, and take you for a walk. :-)

Cats are solitary animals, who don't always care for people. Or at least that's what I thought before we got a couple of kitties.

I taught at Vatterott College in Omaha, Nebraska, before moving to Georgia. I taught basic math and English classes for students in medically related fields, including veterinary technicians. Between the students who loved animals and Ian who loves kitties, I began to grow fonder of kitties. It was around Ian's 5th birthday that Cory and I decided to grant Ian his wish of having real kitties. I knew that we could adopt a cat from Vatterott for less than the humane society, so Cory and I went to pick a cat out for Ian. We were looking at them and playing with them, and decided on not one, but two kitties for Ian. While the kitties were out playing, Sherman and Patches go along so well with each other, that we decided to adopt them both.

Ian was thrilled to pieces with his new real kitties. I now cannot imagine life without them. We were fortunate to have adopted two very lovey kitties. Sherman and Patches both love to hop up on my computer when I am typing or trying to scrapbook. Sherman is also very content to hop up on your lap for attention. He loves to be petted. Patches is my princess. She is lovey too, but only when she wants attention. She usually wants me to pet her when I come home from school every day. She'll meow and follow me around until I pick her up and pet her. Silly girl.

I just now that I cannot imagine life without them now.

Love - Day 1

Today is the first of 14 things that I love. This month's blog challenge is to talk about love in the form of people I love, places I love, foods I love, etc... I thought I would start easy and talk about my favorite person in my life - Cory. I love them all so much. I have known Cory for almost 17 years (wow! has it really been that long?!). I can't believe that's been almost half my life. Where does the time go? Cory truly is my best friend. I can tell him anything, although it may take a while before I get around to doing it. He is there when I need him for a hug or just to hang out. He is a great cook, which is wonderful since you really don't want me cooking too much. I just cannot imagine life without him. I love him so much.

This is one of my favorite pictures of us at the Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha.