Statistics and 22 Weeks

Let me start off by saying, I’m so over graduate school. I just submitted my Statistics Research paper. I put it off for four weeks, so I spend my Sunday afternoon typing eight pages. Thankfully, I only have one more week left of this class, then a week off, and then I will be in my very last class!! Woohoo! I will be so excited to have my free time back!
I could use some more free time this week. I have parent/teacher conferences on Tuesday until 9pm. That’s always such a long day. I have 15 essays to grade, report cards to finish, AIPs to update and print off, and a host of other things to get done before Tuesday. Tomorrow shall be a long day as well. Sigh…
On to the fun stuff! Well to me anyways…

How far along? 22 Weeks
Weight gain? 11 or 12. Not exactly sure. Too much though!
Maternity clothes? Just pants. However, my dresses and tights are so much more comfortable to teach in all day.
Sleep? Still good!
Best moment this week? We ordered Griffin’s furniture. I think we got a great deal. Since I found out we were expecting, I’ve searched everywhere for good furniture. I either found cheap furniture that wouldn’t last, or really nice furniture that was overpriced. I came across a sale last week at JC Penny’s online and ordered a three piece set: a convertible crib, changing station/dresser combo, and a dresser. It’s backordered, so we will get it at the end of next month. That works out perfectly because the nursery needs some major deep cleaning before then!

Movement? Lots! I love that Bran can feel him move so much now too. Griffin really starts to kick if the computer is sitting on him. He must not like that! Every time the laptop is on him, he will kick so hard that he moves it. I love it!
Gender? Boy! Griffin Blaine
Labor Signs? None
Belly button in or out? In
What I miss? Not having heartburn every.single.day.
Milestones? Buying his furniture after five months of searching!
Cravings? pizza, pizza, and more pizza

Summer!

My first week of summer vacation has been a success!! I LOVE summer!        
Let’s see… I’ve been swimming with my buddy Dara every night this week. Other than that, I have really just been lounging around doing absolutely nothing! I’ve had plenty of time to get all of my homework assignments done. However, I have just finished one and have three more left.  
I mailed off a scholarship application today. I had it all put together over a month ago, but kept forgetting to send it off. Well… pretty sure the due date is Monday! I was praying over it on my way to the post office so hopefully it gets there on time and maybe I will get it! That would be such a blessing!
I have two birthday parties to go to this weekend: one tonight and one tomorrow. Dara, Alicia, and I, and maybe some other girls, are going to Faytown tomorrow night for Dara’s birthday. It should be fun because I haven’t been to PF Changs or to the new promenade up there. I’m excited!
I am going to a training on Monday. I have a huge opportunity for my career if I can make any extra time in my schedule. I’m anxious to see where it leads!
Leaving for Hawaii in eight days! Bran and I are SO ready to go!

A, V-Day, and DC

Well I managed to squeak out another A in my last class. But boy… it was a close call. I did horrible on my mid-term, but  a lot of other students complained and she gave everyone17 extra points for bad questions. So that helped… But I was a little nervous for awhile!
Anyways, Valentine’s Day was fantastic. Our party at school was a lot of fun. I have been blessed with amazing parents every year so far. When I got home, Bran and I made dinner together. He bought me chocolate covered strawberries instead of roses. It was so perfect! I have a picture of them on my camera, but I’m too tired to upload them right now. To end the night, we went to revival at church. It was amazing!!!
In my last post I wrote about Donor’s Choose. I am excited to say that one of my projects is fully funded!! Woohoo!! I am so excited, as well as my kiddos. We will be receiving two headsets soon. My cameras are a little over halfway funded. I am so amazed by the generosity of others. They have no idea how much their donation means to me and how far it will take my kids. I just pray that I can raise the last $225 before my project expires in May.

Leaving on a Jet Plane

I have been on overdrive since Thursday. I am leaving Monday for my trip to Orlando. I am super excited to go, but I have so much to finish here at home before I leave. It all started Thursday. I had a meeting after school with the rest of the teachers going to Orlando. I had to drive all the way into town for the hour long meeting then drive all the way back to school. I didn’t leave work until after 6:00! I haven’t done that since my first semester of teaching. Getting sub plans ready for one day is hard enough. Planning for an entire week is torture!
Friday I started the day with an interview at Central Office for summer school. It lasted all of three minutes. We had a fun day on Friday, but again, I didn’t leave school until after 5:00. That’s soooo late for a Friday!! I usually am out by 3:45!
Today I woke up and went straight to school (about 9:00). I finished typing up my plans for each day and got everything ready. I hope I didn’t forget anything! My sub is teaching long multiplication. That is such a hard skill for fourth graders, and they usually get very frustrated. I am praying that this year they will ALL just “get it.” After I finished my plans, I came home and worked for a couple of hours on my graduate school homework. This class is much harder than my previous two. I have a 90% so far and that makes me nervous!
Bran went duck hunting this morning while I was tying up all my loose ends. He was ready for a nap when he got home. After I finished up my homework, we laid down and slept for almost three hours. It was lovely. We then went to his parents house to eat pizza and a cookie cake for Bran’s birthday. Our nephew Jaxon was there. He is two and is absolutely hilarious. After the party, we ran to TJ Maxx to return a dress I bought. I then bought a new bag to take as a carry-on, a new purse, dress, and Bran got a new hat and sweatshirt. We also had to make another stop to get a friend’s birthday gift. Our last stop was Hastings so Bran could rent a movie he wanted.
When we finally got home, I started laundry and cleaning. There is no way I can leave for Florida with my house a disaster. And it truly is a disaster. Ever since our bathroom renovation, I haven’t exactly gotten it all cleaned up and together.
Speaking of my bathrooms, they are almost done! In the master, I just need a rug and the trim put back up. In the hallway bath, I need trim and a mirror. So here are the pictures!
Master:




Hallway:


It makes me so happy that is SO close to being completely finished!!!!
So now it is almost midnight. I am about to take my weekly test for my class. Tomorrow, I will have to take my mid-term. I am nervous about that. After church, I am going to have to do all of my laundry, clean the entire house, bake an apple pie, buy groceries for Bran, and pack. *sigh* I guess I can always sleep on the plane! I just wish those progress reports would fill themselves out!

97%

is what I made in my first graduate course. Woohoo! I was proud of myself. 
Today was fifties day at school. We have had crazy hair day, camo day, and red day as well for Red Ribbon week. I LOVE dressing up! The kids feel more comfortable with looking silly if their teacher is right there with them. I wish I could post some pictures of my kiddos. They were adorable. You can find some on my classroom website though.

This was after an extremely long day. And week. I am so thankful for the three-day weekend!

I am also thankful for my hubby. We took a walk together today with Mason. Our dog always gets the most attention when we take him out! It also doesn’t help that most of the students at my school live around us. They always want to come out to say hi and pet Mason. Good thing he is pretty good with kids. Bran said he would take more walks with me. I definitely need the exercise before we go on our vacation in the summer! So excited!

One Class Down….

and nine to go. I finished my first graduate course Friday. It feels good to have one out of the way. I have this week off before my next class starts. It couldn’t have come at a better time! I have been up at school for the past four hours getting my stuff together and organized for parent/teacher conferences and getting my lessons ready. Tomorrow is going to be such a long day!
Bran and I went and looked around at cars yesterday. I found a Chevy Equinox that I really liked. Since our last truck payment hasn’t even cleared the bank yet, we are going to wait a little bit longer before adding a new car payment to the budget.

Bran sent me flowers to school last week. They are so gorgeous!

They were “I’m Sorry” flowers. ha!

And I just realized this yesterday that I never shared my video of my precious nephew eating his first birthday cake. Yesterday one of Bran’s cousin’s baby’s first birthday was yesterday. That was a lot of possessive nouns! It made me think of Drew and his cake. So without further adieu, here is Drew!

Drew!

T-Shirts

I love t-shirts. Currently I am wearing one of my oldest, rattiest, nastiest shirts. It’s a Sobe shirt my cousin gave me when he worked for their company. I must have been in 7th grade at the time… around there anyways. ha! For real though, it’s old. I have worn this shirt while practicing basketball in high school, playing intramurals in college, and painting our new house. I would take a picture to show you in all it’s dingy glory, but once again, I don’t have a camera.
That whole paragraph was completely…. pointless. So where am I going with my t-shirt love? Well…. I have a new one to add to my collection!
 

This isn’t the best picture. Sorry. It’s been a LONG day!

My AState shirt! Woohoo! When I was accepted into grad school, the first thing I wanted was a t-shirt! (I know… That’s weird!) I am so ready to get started with my classes. (I know… I’m a nerd!)
Here is my completed classroom website, just in case you wanted to see. I know I love looking at other teachers’ stuff.

Update on the Dave Ramsey Plan

I regularly crunch our numbers. I seriously think it’s so much fun. ha! It must come from my momma. Bran and I are doing SO good sticking to our budget. It is amazing to see our debt shrink little by little each month. We graduated from Financial Peace University in February…. 6 months ago. In March, I posted that we had around $17,000 in debt. I am happy to report that that number has shrunk to $10,000! Woohoo! We are on our way! And what is even better…. I am able to get $5,000 of that $10,000 forgiven thanks to a teacher loan forgiveness program. That is exciting!

However, since I am starting graduate school, I will be adding another $5,000 to the total. But that’s ok with me since I will be making more money after I graduate. Not only have we paid off a big chunk, we have saved a big chunk for a wonderful vacation next summer. Exciting times in the Motley household! God is so faithful!