What a Day!

I had a normal day today. Except, it wasn't normal. I know that doesn't make sense. haha Let me explain. The very first thing one of my students told me this morning was "(a student) broke his neck!" I was so worried about him. Thankfully, the little guy showed up late to school (he was absent the day before) with a neck brace on and some pain meds.

Then the kids went to Music and P.E. They were happy when they left. They came back sweaty, stinky, and crying. (Which reminds me that I NEED to order a Scentsy for my room!) In P.E. they had to run a mile. Needless to say, that didn't make them happy! I had a little boy in the bathroom throwing a fit. When I say a fit, I mean a fit! It was crazy. I shouldn't go into a lot of detail on here though. He's a sweet boy. While I was calming him down, I had a little girl in my room who was having trouble breathing. It was a crazy 30 minutes after they came back.

And to top it all off, after recess, another sweet kid came in puking. Oh, a day in the life of a teacher. So all of these occurances are very normal. However, I usually don't deal with all of them on the same day.

I was looking forward to spending a quiet and relaxing evening with my hubby. He was doing the umpire thing tonight though. After he's finished with that, he has to go back to work. Bummer.... Maybe tomorrow. I am still enjoying a relaxing night. I graded most of my end-of-year reading assessments. Tonight is the best TV night as well: American Idol, Glee, The Hills, and The City. Love!

I made my own deodorant yesterday. I'll tell you about that later.

Another Dave Ramsey Post

I was so excited to find all the Dave Ramsey fans that have participated in Kelly's Show Us Your Life. The topic this week is Show Us Your Money Saving Tips. My money saving tip is to go and buy the book The Total Money Makeover. It's certainly a fantastic investment. After you read it, find a Financial Peace University course to attend. Usually these classes are held at a local church.

Dave gives practical, biblical advice. His big motto is to "Live like no one else so later you can live like no one else." Bran and I are following a lifestyle that is very different from other couples our age. For example, we make a budget every single month. We tell our money where it is going! We don't have to live paycheck-to-paycheck. 30% of our income right now is going towards paying off our debt (which hopefully will be paid off in a year!!) We also use the envelope system. We don't use our debit or credit cards anymore! It's hard to let go of all that cash! We have also learned to save for purchases rather than put them on a credit card. An added advantage of using cash for big purchases is the power of negotiating. I may embarass my husband when I ask for an additional discount... However, it works!! And if I am flashing around hundreds of dollars in cash, it really works! You don't have that power when you flash your credit card.

I love talking about our finances, our future, and Dave's program. But, I won't bore you anymore! Just go and buy his book if you haven't already!

My Week

I'm so thankful it is finally the weekend! I went to an "Aspiring Principals" workshop today.... It was interesting. It confirmed my desire to NOT ever be a principal. ha! I just do not think I am cut out for that job. My feelings would be continuously hurt, and I think I would be a micromanager. That is definitely not a good thing for a principal to be. So, that's that.

Something that was really neat about the conference today was I got to meet my alma mater's new elementary principal for next year. I gave her the inside info on the town she is about to move to. I love meeting new people! It's so much fun to hear their stories, and know their visions for the future. However, I think people get tired of me being in their group because I have a hard time focusing on the assignments. I would much rather visit and be social.

In our Financial Peace class tonight, we learned about saving for retirement. It was so over my head. All I know is if Dave Ramsey would just contact me personally, we could be millionaires by the time we retire. I am patiently awaiting his call....Surely I am at the top of his priority list.... Surely....

I have a new home improvement project that I want to do. My school district is giving us an end-of-year bonus. I'm hoping it will buy the materials needed for a new shower in our master bath. I won't even step in the shower now. It is for real gross. I mean, it was gross when we moved in. My mother-in-law cleaned it pretty well though. However, Bran has just made it more nasty because he won't clean it! So, I'm just going to replace it with the help of some friends, and of course, my dad and maybe my brother. It's definitely time!

Have you tried these??

If not, go get some. They are sooooo good! I seriously work with the best people. Our focus teacher knows my love for these coconut m&m's. And she should because she is the one that got me addicted! On Thursday morning, a BOX of 24 packages of this chocolaty goodness was awaiting me on my desk. Ahhhhhhhhhhh.......... perfection. I asked the "Coconut Fairy" how much I owed her. Her response, "The Coconut Fairy never requires payment. Simply share with those you love." She really is one of the sweetest people I know. If you live close to me and would like to try some, just come find me! I have a lot to share!

the perfect teacher gift from a teacher's point of view

I love Show Us Your Life from Kelly's blog. This week's topic: teacher gifts! I have taught fourth grade for two years now. I have been blessed with amazing kids and all of their creative and thoughtful gifts. I have been thinking about what the perfect gift from a student would be.... and then I remembered what one of my student's mom told me.

I was standing with my after school kids waiting for their parents to pick them up. One of my fellow colleagues started talking to me about her son who is in my room. He is such a sweetie! She said he was talking to her one night about me. He said I was his favorite teacher (awwww....). He went on to say how he really liked how Mrs. Motley taught him the things he really needed to know. And Mrs. Motley seems to really like being a teacher. And how Mrs. Motley was strict, but not mean. And how he liked Mrs. Motley's "classroom management". haha! All of this coming from a 10 year old boy. I love it!! So the perfect teacher gift in my eyes would be having a student write down all of those things that he/she appreciates. I'm not talking about the normal pictures, drawings, and the papers with "I LOVE YOU" written all over it that teachers get on a daily basis (although those are sweet too). I'm talking about a thoughtful, from the heart, letter. I would treasure that; especially on those days that aren't exactly the best.

Of course, a massage would be nice too! HA!

FINISHED!

I had no idea how much work these countertops were going to be! I have spent almost a week on them. Unfortuntely the paint bled through the tape and onto the wall. I had to run to Lowes after school today to get some more of our wall color. We bought our green color at Wal-Mart, but I thought Lowes could create the same color while I was there getting the other paint. WRONG! I spent $10 on the wrong stinkin' paint color! It made me so mad! After I painted, I had to go back into town to get the right color at Wal-Mart. All is well now.... Here are the pictures. I am incredibly pleased with the result. They look soooo much better!

In other news, our testing is OVER! Woohoo! I am so proud of my kiddos. They worked extremely hard. Tomorrow we are having a fun day. We are going to get some beach towels and lay under a shade tree with our library books tomorrow afternoon. They were pretty excited about it. We're going to play Uno as well, and, of course, there will be food involved. They deserve a nice reward!

Phase Two

Wow. I'm pretty stinkin' impressed with myself. haha And, surprisingly, Bran is too! Here are our "new" countertops after phase two. They're still not completed.... That step is coming tonight!

Almost there. This was about 11:30 last night. Note to self: It's never a good idea to stay up past midnight on a school night, especially during Benchmark week!

I didn't do so good on the backsplash. The corners were sooooo hard to paint.

I think they look better in person than in pictures. But you get the idea! I think it looks WAY better than our old countertops! It gives our kitchen a more updated look. I am curious to see how they will hold up to normal use... It should last us until we get all our debt paid off and can save some money to get new countertops. I was not expecting to paint from 7:30pm - 12:00am. It took forever. However, patience is a virtue, and I think it paid off. Tonight, I will apply the two coats of sealer. Tomorrow, I will be able to take the tape off. In a couple of weeks, I can put my stuff back on top. I'm SO glad the hard part is over!

Countertops - Phase One

So in an effort to save some money, yet have a pretty home, I am painting our nasty, fake "butchertop" countertops. My dad bought me the Giani Countertop Paint kit, and today I finally had the time to try it out! I was incredibly NERVOUS at first. This is not exactly my forte!

I didn't exactly dress up for the occasion. haha

Step One: Clear off the countertops.

Step Two: Clean them VERY well.

Step Three: Remove any gross caulk.

(Which means I have to repaint the wall now.... grrrrr....)

Step Four: Re-caulk (after going to Lowe's and trying to figure out the dumb caulking gun which resulted in a call to my dad.)

Step Whatever: Tape

AND NOW - I'm ready to go!!!

My heart was racing.

No turning back now.

Half-way there.

Finished with Phase One!!!

Yikes! Tomorrow, I'll make it look like granite. Well, that's the plan anyways.