Feeling Lucky?

March 30, 2012

It was a given. I had to join in the festivities. Everyone was doing it. 

I've never purchased a one of these things, so I thought beginners luck could be in my favor.

With the grand prize skyrocketing up to 640 million dollars, I had to partake in the fun and take a chance in scoring big! Obviously, my chances are somewhere near the .01 percentile (or possibly lower) as statistics show your chances of getting hit by lightning are much greater! 

(...6x before you win a lottery ticket to be exact)

One dollar? 

I can burn a dollar if I don't win. Plus, what if I did win... what if. I couldn't take that chance of NOT buying one. Plus, all news stations made this such a big deal, it was fun to participate!

Off to Bucky's I go 

(our gas station)

The line was pretty big! About 15 people lined up (just in that short period I was there) to get their chance of becoming rich. People were purchasing 20, 30, even hundreds of tickets to get their shot in the big ol' lottery. I just wanted my one lousy ticket :) 

  

So what's better?

 Personal numbers you pick that mean something to you/that you deem to be "lucky"

or

 QP (quick-pick) a random select of computer generated numbers

...I went with the latter.

My philosophy was simple. If it's meant to be, it's mean to be. 

Plus, if I would have picked the numbers, I would of regretted choosing each and every one of them if I would have lost (which I knew I would, so hence my choice).

The final product

With a kiss after it was printed for good luck, here was my lucky charm.

Only, it wasn't so lucky.

...Not even one number

: /

So I didn't win, but it was fun to wish and dream about what it COULD have been like to come into contact with that much money.

It was quite difficult to come up with things I would have done.

------------------

Here is my "top 10 wish list" if I would have won

1. Get rid of student loans. Pay those suckers off.

2. Pay off family members debt and bills and share some of the winnings

3. Purchase a house. Nothing huge, but a nice living space with washer and dryer on the main floor and a scrapbook craft room. That is my biggest wish.

4. Purchase some much needed new clothes and shoes!

5. Travel to Ireland (with mom) and Australia (with the man)

6. Donate to the Lupus foundation, Dysautonomia Research, and the Ehlers Danlos Syndrome Foundation. All of these are so important to me as my mom and I share these conditions.

7. Start my own charity.

8. Create my own scholarship fund for those who are well rounded and active in their community (NOT focused on G.P.A) and for those who are disabled or struggle with their health trying to get accepted or make it in college.

9. Buy an iPad.

10. Have a fabulous, fun wedding and honeymoon : )

Hey, a girl can dream!

What would YOU have done with the money?

xoxo.

What a Week + Awesome News

There are many reasons I smiled this week.

Just like this owl, I am a very happy camper ...and have a lot to be thankful for!

plus, I absolutely LOVE owls. extra smile.

Reason #1

I had two interviews scheduled for a potential job.

I was just excited to get interviews at a time where finding a job is incredibly difficult

Reason #2

A kiddo made me laugh. A lot. Here's the story...

There is boy I work with that has very poor fine motor skills. He cannot write
(it is not legible whatsoever, so he is required to type all of his assignments)
Well, I was looking through his health homework about "morals" and I noticed it has scribbles (his writing) for every answer and a 100% plastered on the front. I said "Bobby (obviously not his name) why did we write our assignment? Obviously your teacher can't read this buddy." I then proceed to ask him what his answers say, as I am just a tad curious...

The first question said "You didn't study for your test. The teacher  has you sit next to the smartest kid in class. What do you do?" 

His response (literally, verbatim and 100% serious) was: I would make sure the teacher wasn't looking and then copy his answers.

I stare at him in utter disbelief and immediately respond, "Bobby!" "You can't do that, that's called cheating!"

He then looks at me, with a weird look on his face and responds...

"I would make sure the teacher is not looking first... DUH!"

too funny. I have to give him props for his mad honesty. 

needless to say, we had to have a "talk".

...after I finished laughing

:)

Reason #3

VitaTops in morning. 

Absolutely delicious and fairly healthy!

Reason #4

Fish frys with friends :) 

It's never a dull Friday when a fish fry is added in the day!

Reason #5

My interview on Wednesday!

...it went well I thought

Reason #6

*last but certainly NOT least*

The missed call I received on my phone around 8:30am...

The email message I received around 8:35am....

The note from my school office brought down to me around 8:45am...

...all saying to contact the principal I interviewed with the day before :)

I GOT THE JOB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I will officially be a second grade teacher this August.

Grad school begins THIS May and I will receive my masters in 14 months.

FOR FREE :) 

just an added bonus

It will be a lot of work.

First year teacher+Full time grad student= no life

But I'm ready for the ride. To tackle this exciting new start. 

To spend all summer taking classes and getting my classroom ready.

I think this week was definitely worth a BIG SMILE.

:)

So excited.

xoxo

Wordless Wednesday

via

No one else is a better version of you...

.BE YOU.

One of my school favorites

This is my favorite part of the school day...

Working on counting money :)

I made a price tag game and use "spacers" (a.k.a. little strips of paper) to help him with transitioning from one coin to another. It works great!

This kiddo has the best attitude and loves to learn!

What is YOUR favorite part of day?

Enjoy your Tuesday!

xoxo.

Happy St. Patrick's Day :)

Today will be filled with laughter, beer, food that isn't on my diet plan, friends, and GREEN :) I love St Patrick's Day and good ol' Corn Beef and Cabbage! 

With blonde hair, blue eyes, and a name of Erin
...you know that I'm Irish and ready to celebrate!

Later tonight, I'm skipping the crowds and staying in with my man to watch some old movies and make some good food!

What are your St. Patties Day Plans?

via

 Be Safe.Have Fun.Go Green :)

xoxo.

Whoa Nelly...

We're having a heat wave

...a mid-western heat wave

literally.

I don't know where you all are from, but around here (the mid-west) it is never 81degrees in mid early March. Typically, we have a big snow storm around this time! To make matters more crazy, this isn't just a fluke hot day, it is staying like this! According to the national weather pros, they are saying to expect these temperatures all month long. 

{insert gasp}

Okay, so to most of you 81 degrees is nothing; however, when you are experiencing brutal temperatures of 15-30 degrees or so and the next day it's 81! Now that is quite the shocker that my wardrobe was not expecting. Shorts? Flip-flops? Really!?

If this is what we are experiencing in March, I can't even fathom thinking what summer is going to be like :/ 

Brutal.Nasty.Intense.

Ew.

I heard 10,000 temperature records have been broken across the country in the past THREE days!

What is the weather like in your neck of the woods?

xoxo.

Wordless Wednesday

 Simple.and.True

♥

****

xoxo.

Erinj0

Spread the Word to End the Word

Spread the Word to End the Word

-- March 7, 2012 is the National "Spread the Word to End the Word" Awareness Day --

The "R-WORD" (retarded) is a slang for Mental-Retardation, a term that doctors or professionals use to identify children or persons with an intellectual impairment. Unfortunately, in today's world, the term is used loosely to insult or call some one "stupid". It is important to remember that people with Mental Retardation are NOT stupid nor shall they be the root of all insults. 

Regardless of whether it is meant to be hurtful or rude, IT IS.

Please note: As of October 10, 2010, the term Mental Retardation was officially changed to "Intellectual Disability" from a law passed by President Obama known as Rosa's Law.

***

Have you ever heard a friend, colleague, family member, or even stranger use the word 'retard' or 'retarded'? I would say that approximately 99% of Americans have used or heard this word used in a derogatory manner. 

The most common phrases that I witness are...

"That's so retarded"- "Stop being such a retard" - "You're retarded"

 ***

It IS offensive. It IS rude. It IS hurtful. It IS wrong.

To family members

.friends.

.loved ones.

.victims.

.people.

So my question to you is this.

What are YOU going to do about it?

I challenge you to take a stand. Confront others and educate them about the derogatory meaning of the r-word. Encourage others to eliminate the word. Be a change. Help make a difference.

Click here to take the pledge

***

::As of March 6, 2012::

 people on the world wide web have used the r-word 

157,015 times 

Mondays are back

It's MONDAY!

Any-who, today was my my first day of sped student teaching.

Hopefully it will be a good experience :) 

  

...but most importantly 

Mondays are the Bachelorette!!!

If you missed the premiere last week, click here to watch it on abc

If you have followed my blog for awhile, you know that my mom and I absolutely love the Bachelorette and we always get together every Monday night to veg out, dish on the ladies/gentlemen and make predictions! 

It is quite entertaining and a good girls night to say the least!

Here are our latest rankings.

PLEASE let me know who's your favorite! I would love to hear your thoughts.

Harley is approving our opinions ;)

 We actually had differing opinions. I was so surprised!
During the show, we cannot tell each other our thoughts.
After, we compare our scores and pick our favorites!

My thoughts!

Moms thoughts!

 .Episode One Snippets.

The old lady you saw on the preview was there to support her grand-daughter. Very cliche, and fairly stupid in my opinion. Whatever.

The girl from Nebraska did not portray an adequate picture of my state. at all.please disregard any information that she stated. I do not eat cow nuts. I am NOT that girl, nor are most people from here.

Emily did a fantastic rap. I absolutely loved it. it too, was cliche, yes but original. I could never come up with these lyrics. I give her mad props. check it out.

Monica is just a flat out b. She is incredibly rude. beware viewers.

Jenna is a blogger from NYC. I do not believe that she accurately portrays us bloggers either. We do not act like that :) 

Anyways. 

Yes the Bachelor is rather stupid and getting redundant, but if you don't watch  it... you should! It is a wonderful guilty pleasure that I would love to talk about with y'all!

T - 1 minute till' it airs!

xoxo

-erinj0

Sunday Tag

Happy Sunday!

via

  Do you know the author Baily J, of the wonderful blog The Middle? 

If not, you should definitely check out her totally real, honest, and inspirational blog :)

I just KNOW you will love it.

Anyways, Bailey tagged me in a post and asked a couple questions.

I love to do little surveys and such so here it goes!

ONE

Why is your favorite color your favorite color?

Honestly. I had to think about this question for a bit. I don't really have a "favorite" color per-Se, but I really love black for my clothing color choice - and B&W have always been my favorite. why? well most definitely because it makes ever flaw you have that much less-noticeable. It doesn't hide all my trouble areas, but it sure makes me feel a tad better!

TWO

Have you ever been in trouble with the law?

Nope. nada.never.

Except my four speeding tickets. 

Do those count? ;)

THREE

If you could go to one place in the entire world for one week, free of charge, where would you go?

FREE of charge! Oh gee. Anywhere, honestly. I just want to get out of the country and explore the world. There are many beautiful and unique places I would love to go to, but on my top priority list is Australia... (then Ireland & Poland).

FOUR

If you could take on person with you, who would it be?

To Australia, my boy of course! To Ireland and Poland, it would have to be my mom. We have talked about visiting together for quite some time now :)

FIVE

If there was one disease that you could cure (that doesn't already have one) what would it be and why?

First. I would love for people to find a cure for so many health conditions, especially invisible diseases, and also those that do not get a lot of attention.

Next, the THREE diseases/syndromes that I would LOVE a cure for are EDS, Lupus and Dysautonomia.

**my personal reasoning**

SIX

What is your guilty pleasure?

Trashy, stupid, pointless, but oh so entertaining reality television. 

I do not know what I would do without my cherished DVR. It makes watching television shows that much easier and enjoyable. 

SEVEN

What is your least favorite acronym?

Well, it's not really an acronym. I can't stand when I am texting my friends or when I receive emails that are written half-assed and just stupid. excuse my french. Okay, here is what I mean...

Scenario 1: Erin. Wutz ^? How r u 2day?  Not 2 Much here. g2g. Call me soon. L8er.

I don't know why it bothers me so much, but I just find that now-a-days people are so illiterate and take this casual writing into their daily work. Not acceptable.

EIGHT

Would you rather have 12 toes or a huge nose?

twelve toes. definitely. I can hide those easily, but a big nose? That is front and center! Anyways, my man has a rather large nose and if I too had a big on, that means my future little ones would be screwed for life. I don't think they would appreciate that. he-he :)

NINE

Who was your favorite Backstreet Boy?

First. Backstreet Boys were so much better than N'sync :) 

To answer the question, Brian was my favorite!

Perfect fan was my favorite song...made me cry.

TEN

What is the one electronic device you wouldn't miss at all?

My DVD player. I never use it. I watch entirely too much television that there is no need for a DVD player. If I really want to, I will find it online or order it from my television service. 

ELEVEN

If you wanna be my lover, do you got to get with my friends?

(love the spice-girls reference f.y.i)

YES! That's a major must.

friendship never ends.

ha-ha.

Does questions number SEVEN bother you too?

Tomorrow is a BIG day for me.

Stay tuned!

xoxo

erinj0.

New Year = New Beginning

Hello Friends! Happy 2012 :) 

Oh gosh, it's been one week since I have last posted. It seems like a lifetime.
Okay, slight exaggeration, but it feels like forever.

...So what have I been doing?

drum roll please....
I am officially done applying for graduate school! Whooooo. (insert scream here).
Applications to the University and the districts are all complete! Now it's a waiting game.

The grad school opportunity I applied for would pay for my masters degree AND I would finish in fourteen months. Totally awesome, right? So pretty much, 14 months of work and hell for one FREE, awesome degree! I will totally take the bait and go to school to increase my future pay if someone else is willing to pay for it! Who wouldn't?!

Double bonus. Yesterday, I got my first call and I am in the process of finding a time to go interview! I couldn't be more excited (and absolutely nervous as heck) to begin my future!

This is actually rather anti-climatic.
It has been 60 degrees in Nebraska! In January!
Crazy...
Via

Before I start my last semester of my student teaching and dive into the interviews, I must enjoy this one last weekend of my holiday break! G'night friends and enjoy your weekend!

What are your future plans? Anything exciting thus far in 2012?

xoxo
erinj0.