{It's okay Thursday!}

Time for another one of my favorite link ups with Neely @ A Complete Waste of Makeup & Amber @ Brunch with Amber.

IT'S OKAY....

...to get really irritated at people who are driving slow in the left lane! I can't stand slow drivers.

...to be excited to see my niece's Daisy bridging ceremony for Girl Scout's today. I love that kid!

...to set your alarm to get up early to clean and then sleep an extra hour. Guess I needed it!

...to go to the gym and then come home and eat a bag of popcorn. A girl's got cravings!

...to stay up late reading just because you can't put the book down!

...to want every job you apply for to call you for an interview. #dreambig.

...to know you'll be upset when 50 Shades of Grey is over.

...to spend a good portion of your day mentally casting the 50 Shades of Grey movie cast!

...to sleep with your window open because the AC isn't in yet.

...to want to be annoyed at your neighbors who are using a saw and hammer at 9am!

...to be excited your boyfriend gave you Photoshop so you can fix your blog header! Helps to be dating someone who loves anything related to computers.

...to be excited that "Dance Moms" (the Pittsburgh ones) return on Tuesday! Dance Moms Miami wasn't that great.

...to feel like everyone in the world is getting engaged and you're not.  

...to stare at the DISASTER that is my closet and continue to put cleaning it off!

...to not unload the dishwasher because you want one of your siblings to do it. 

...to laugh at the emails my mother sends me from work. "Please go buy more corn and propel water. Also, take out meat for tacos"

...to wish I could put together outfits like they have on Pinterest.

 

{WILW!}

Happy Wednesday y'all! I have missed the past two WILW link ups because I was on my cruise and then I was just so busy last week the day after I got back. I missed doing them! 

Head on over to Jamie's blog, This Kind of Love, to link up! 

I'm loving that today is my brother Mark's birthday! Unfortunately, I can't celebrate when my SIL has everyone over on Friday night because I am stuck at work but he turns the big 3-9 today! He has always been that "father-figure" type of older brother. 

 Us at his wedding back in July 2000!

I'm loving that it is now warm out! Today's weather kind of broke and isn't as hot as it has been but it's nice to no longer be wearing long sleeve shirts.

I'm loving that my brother got my boyfriend and I a good deal last night! I work with my brother at CPK and my boyfriend wanted to have dinner. We sat in my brother's section, had an appetizer and each a drink and then our meals....everything but the alcohol got comped off our bill thanks to our manager! It was really nice of him to do! I left him a good tip. 

I'm loving that I am finally going back to the gym today after a few weeks off. Oops. It makes it better that I don't have to work later, ha!

I'm loving that I will be going to Atlantic City next month! I will be going with these fabulous ladies and we are SO excited:

I'm loving the determination I have to find a job. I am going to apply to so many jobs where I live before I resort to moving out of state. Even if it's 45mins-1 hour commute, it'd be experience in the classroom! I do despise writing cover letters!

I'm loving that my cousin Lisa & her fiance Bryce move back to New York in the next week from Florida! She is my only female cousin on my dad's side of the family and I miss her! Can't wait for her to start planning the wedding.

I'm loving Sex and the City. I'm not late to the party on this...it has always been one of my favorite shows and I have been rewatching the DVDs. I am totally a Charlotte in some aspects but a Miranda in others. Actually, I think I'm a mix of all 4!

 

I'm loving these pins from Pinterest!

 

 
 What are you loving today?!

Would you like some cheese with that whine?

I honestly sometimes cannot stand people who whine. Granted, we are all guilty of doing it at one point or another. But it can get annoying after awhile.

But then again, this is my blog and I am just so frustrated I need to "whine"....or rather vent.

I have been out of college for three years. Wow, that just makes me sick to think about. I had gone to school the entire time with the intention of graduating with a degree in secondary education/spanish and my french minor. I had picked my school because I envisioned myself on campus for four years. It was perfect. Fast forward to my methods class fall semester senior year (one semester before I am suppose to student teach) and my professor/advisor tells us we have to take a departmental assessment test that covers grammar, literary analysis and cultural analysis plus a $150 oral proficiency interview over the phone in order to student teach. You had to get an 84 or better on each of the three parts of the assessment test and advanced low on the oral proficiency interview.

So, why did they tell us this the semester BEFORE we are to student teach? Can I just say my major was the only major in the school of education that was required to take a test and pass it in order to student teach? NOT FAIR. Plus, it's basically a free for all on the departmental assessment test. I took it with everyone in my program and two people passed. I was pissed. I had to decide if I wanted to take another semester of nonsense classes (my school required 120 credits to graduate and I had 119!) and stay and take the test again or drop it all together. I gave it another try and studied for months! Unfortunately, it did not work....I got the same level again on the OPI (just a SMIDGE under where I had to be) and missed passing 2 sections of the assessment test by 16 points. My advisor was basically no help and told me "I can't help you because classes are over." REALLY!

I spent a lot of time crying because I felt so defeated. My friends felt so bad for me. In the end, I decided to drop my education major (I only had student teaching left) and just graduate with a Spanish major and French minor. They wouldn't even let me walk with my friends at graduation which was killer. I refused to not celebrate my graduation with my friends even if they wouldnt let me walk til a year later.

In the end, I took a semester off from school to figure out where I wanted to go for grad school. I was going to live at home. I ended up going to a school that is 10 minutes from my house. It was one of my three options (that, a state school, and then another private school about 45mins-1 hr away). I got my education degree in 1.5 years. Last May, I graduated. And now I am on to the task of finding a job.

I have applied for so many teaching jobs and I feel like I am never going to get a job. This is where the whining comes in. I have so much money to pay back in my student loans. Between paying my mom rent every month (I had to listen to a speech last night that I didnt pay May but I did with all the crap I charged when I went shopping here and there for her) and the gas prices in NY, I don't think I will ever get out on top! I am seriously considering relocating if I cannot find a job. I just want to be able to use my degree!

Here's to hoping that I will find my dream job...sooner or later. Preferably sooner!

{Cruise Recap - Part 2}

I left off after our first few days at sea as we made our way to the ports of call. The first port of call was "Grand Turk" on Thursday. John & I didn't have any excursions planned for this port. We just wanted to enjoy ourselves!

As we were walking from the ship

Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville

Cool lounge chairs. And I love our shadows! 

Swim up pool bar? My dream! 

In the water with our ship in the back

John in the water

Lovebirds in Grand Turk

After we laid out at the beach for awhile, we went over to the pool side. It was great! Bunch of lounge chairs, a giant pool and the water felt great! I saw people with these things and all I knew was I wanted one. John got each of us a yard of Pina Colada with a giant shot of rum in it. It was glorious!

 

As you can tell, I enjoyed it! Plus, you can see my awesome sunburn. Ha ha.

View of Grand Turk as we were leaving

On our balcony. I love the blue water!

A collection of all the drinking we did. Mind you, I had more than my boyfriend.

Towel animal number four. I think this one was my favorite! 

This was one of my favorite parts of the ship. It was an adults 21+ lounge with hammocks, our own pool and hot tub, etc. So no families here. Loved it! 

Friday (May 18), we went to our next port of call, Half Moon Cay! This is where we had an excursion planned, horseback riding. I was so excited!

We just hung out in the little shops area before our excursion

That way to NY! 

A nice couple took this for us. I was determined to have a picture of us in every port. 

My kind of place :)

The only excursion we did on our trip but so worth it....HORSEBACK RIDING! We went on a course for a bit before going on the trail. THEN, we went in the WATER! I dont have any pictures in the water but it was so much fun! I have to scan the photo I bought from the professional photographer they have because it was a great shot of me and the horse I rode....Dynasty. 

John on his horse, Full Moon.

In the water in Half Moon. The water here was colder than Grand Turk!

On the tender boat ride back to our ship. We had a lot of fun horseback riding! Quite possibly one of the best parts of the trip.

Lounging in Serenity!

Towel animal number five!

Stay tuned for the recap on Nassau, Bahamas and the rest of our trip!

Sunday Randoms

Let's face it...I have an addiction to Pinterest. I swear, I waste more time on there then is necessary. Lord, if that thing was around when I was in college, I can only imagine the more procrastination that would have occurred!

Here are my favorite things I have found lately because let's face it, it's Sunday...and we all need a laugh!

Screw working out for the Hunger Games! 

Every time she rolls her eyes at him, I can't help but think if I was her because I roll my eyes a lot. Ha!  

I love Ellen DeGeneres. She is hysterical. 

I love cupcakes!

Friends will always hands down be my favorite show. I can't believe my boyfriend has never seen any episodes! I swear he lived under a rock as a child. 

My motto is it is ALWAYS five o'clock somewhere for a cocktail. :)

Laters, baby. 

This is how I feel after dealing with a lot of stupid people in one day! 

What will I do once I am done with 50 Shades?!

{Cruise Recap - Part 1}

Considering it was an 8 day cruise and I feel like we did A LOT, I think it may be necessary to break down the recap of it into a few posts. Who knows if anyone will read them? But at least it is for my memory!

The cruise was a combined birthday/Christmas/Valentine's Day gift from the boyfriend. Pretty sweet, huh? Mind you....he had mentioned this back in August of LAST YEAR so you can only imagine how long I had to wait for it. I am not the most patient person in the world. We went on the Carnival Miracle and the ports of call were Grand Turk, Half Moon Cay, and Nassau Bahamas.

The day we left, kind of had pretty crappy weather in New York. Apparently, while we were away, it was raining and crappy weather the entire week so that made me feel better!! We took a car to the city because it was cheaper then having to pay for parking each day. And I just don't drive in NYC. Once we got on the ship (which, btw, had the fastest boarding process!), we grabbed some lunch and then checked out our cabin. Then, we went up to the Lido Deck to sail away from New York! We hung out in "Serenity" which was a cool adult lounge.

 Walking around on our ship

 Adult hot tub & pool in the "Serenity" area

 First cocktail of the vacation!

Lounging in one of the cute little huts

Sailing past the statue of liberty

After we sailed off, we hung around, went to some shows and such followed by dinner. Dinner was interesting. We had an awesome waiter named "D" who was from Indonesia. Our table was set for 6 people. There was us, a couple from Vermont and another couple that the woman didnt speaking English. They ended up switching tables after the first night and the other couple apparently did too....even though there were suppose to be four of us at the table. Whatever. We still had fun!

The second day we just hung around on the ship as it was a day at sea and read books on our Kindle (me) and iPad (John). It was a nice, relaxing day. That night,was the first night we had to dress up for "Cruise Elegant" dinner. Before dinner, we took a picture with the captain of our ship!

This is our cruise director, Hennie. He is from South Africa! He was hysterical and very friendly. I could totally see my 7-yr-old niece doing something like this. Plus, isn't his tie AWESOME?

This might actually be one of my favorite pictures of John & I. Another couple took it. Even though they have a ton of photography sessions set up (which we did), I just love this! 

Wednesday, May 16th was another day at sea! The last day before we hit Grand Turk! Since we were getting further South, it was gorgeous weather. So, we did what any people on vacation do....drink! We spent our time on the sun deck reading (I finished the second book of the 50 Shades series!) and later that night, had a romantic date at Nick & Nora's Steakhouse on the ship. 

Awesome souvenir drink. Plus my hair is WILD here. I actually got pretty sunburned from laying out on the deck....and that's because I didn't put sunscreen on because it was cloudy. oops. 

 

Locked John out on the balcony! HAHA! I was amused. He wasn't. 

Can you tell how sunburned I am here?! I used a quarter of a thing of aloe for two-three days. 

I also loved how they put the towel animals in your room each night! Here are the first three we had:

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday.

Stay tuned for a recap of the shenanigans from the ports of call!