What to do?????

Well, I am sitting here typing and eating one of my all-time favorite snacks--apples and peanut butter. That is just about the only reason I keep apples in my refrigerator. I have gotten so bad that whenever I eat apples I have to dip them or cover them with something whether it be pb or apple dip (homemade, of course). So, I do indulge quite often.

I have just finished cleaning most of my house for our huge BBQ that we are having tomorrow evening. We have lots of relatives coming over and I am super excited!!!! I am now trying to decide if I should scrap, organize some things in my scrap room, or just curl up with a good book. The kids are down after a long day and I definitely need some "me" time. We went to see "Over the Hedge" today and it was quite funny. They sure enjoyed it!!!! But enough of my rambling. I must get off of this computer and do something productive. I refuse to sit here and surf the net tonight. I usually end up buying something and I definitely don't need to. Trust me. HMMMM, I wonder if Baker's now has those shoes in stock????

13 days !!!!

Yep, it's been 13 days since I updated my blog and I am wondering when will I slow down???? I just knew that once I finished grad school, I would have more free time and I do, but, I now spend that time cleaning, spending time with my kiddos, hubby, and reading!!!!! I haven't even really scrapped anything this month. Well, I have done a couple, well five to be exact, but who's counting???? LOL!!!

Anyhoo, I have totally neglected my blog and I hope that I can get back to normal soon. A lot has happened the last few weeks and with school letting out for the summer in just one week, I am extremely overwhelmed!!!! So much has to be done before I can kiss this school year goodbye, but I am so ready!!! I will be sad however, as it seems this will be my last year as a classroom teacher. Next year I will be a reading recovery teacher and I am way excited about that!!!!!

So in celebration of it being my last year as a second grade teacher I thought that I would share with you some pics of me and my students releasing our butterflies yesterday. I am so glad that this was the last time I had to do that icky butterfly unit. It is a fun unit, but dealing with those caterpillars and handling them before and after they change into a chrysalis is just disgusting. I'm glad that's over!!! I have no problem handling the butterflies, though. That's me in the turquoise holding one. As you can see, some of my boys found other creatures of nature to be much more interesting.

Reflections

As I sit here, on the eve of my third graduation, I can't help but to think about all that I have overcome in order to reach this point. Yes, this is my third time graduating, but none of the others can compare to this one. This is my first time graduating as a wife, a daughter-in-law, a sister-in-law, a mother, and a teacher. I'm sure there are other titles that I could list, but this will do for now.

I know that none of this would be possible without The Lord. He has shown me over the past few years that I possess a strength that I had no idea I had and He has given me the determination to make it through all that I have. He has provided me with such a loving and close knit family who has definitely supported me and did a lot of babysitting so that I could accomplish this goal. :-) And my hubby, well, words cannot express how wonderful he has been through this journey. I truly love this man!!!!!

Being in graduate school has truly been a journey. It has been a time of rediscovery. After getting married and starting a family, I sort of lost myself. I just became so wrapped up in my family that I started to neglect Tiffany and I lost a part of myself. I had always planned to go to grad school, but kept putting it off and off and well finally decided to just do it. I am one of those people that likes to think things through and that is exactly what I tried to do with my decision of going to school, but after so much thought I grew tired and just decided to do it. I am so glad I did.

I am so excited about tomorrow. I took off from work today because I had to attend a graduation meeting this morning. I got emotional when I saw the setup. I even teared up when we marched in, but I fought back the tears. I know that I am just going to lose it tomorrow morning especially when I see my family.

This graduation is so much more than just getting a masters degree, it is a celebration of what I found along the way that is so much more valuable than any diploma or degree. It is the celebration of finding (well, rediscovering) ME!!!!!

I am FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!

Hello blog world!!!!! I am happy to say that I have completed all of my assignments, turned them in, had my last class last night and I feel FABULOUS!!!!!! I graduate this Saturday, but right now, I feel like a shackle has been released from my body. WHEWWWWW!!!!!!! I am now able to concentrate more on my family and SCRAPPING!!!!! Of course I must purge and clean, so I am doing that now and maybe I will get to post some pics soon. It's time for a scrap room over haul!!!!!

What can be better???

I'm home from work today because I am finishing my final paper which is due tomorrow night. I am sitting here right now listening to one of my favorite artists, Anthony Hamilton and eating Krispy Kreme dougnuts. Yep, there's A KK dougnuts really close to my house so I ran out for a spell and got a chocolate covered, a glazed, and I tasted the chocolate cake one, but was too full to tackle the entire dougnut. Guess I better get back to work!!!! I miss the world of blogging!!!!