This & That

Hey 2016. Does anyone else still feel weird writing that? I do! Where on Earth did 2015 go? I am still trying to grasp that. Plus, this school year is FLYING BY (and yet dragging on in some aspects) compared to last year.

I still have to take down all the Christmas decorations. Anyone with me on that? No? No one else still has their tree up? #itsarealtreethatineedtogetridof #noonehelps #allme . That is the plan this weekend since I have the weekend off from work. I LOVE decorating for Christmas but putting it all away is so tedious and time consuming.

I got a Fit Bit for Christmas and it has been really interesting to see how many steps I do a day, how many calories I burn. I also love that you can track your sleep. The first time I wore it, it said I was restless 19 times in one night! Holy cow! I wanted it as part of my mission in order to lose weight/tone up. It is my goal for 2016. I know a lot of people say that every year (I am guilty of it) but I really need to. Why? BECAUSE PANTS SHOPPING FOR SCHOOL IS THE BANE OF MY EXISTENCE! I probably gained in the waist which makes pants difficult. It actually makes me feel like I am suffocating at times because they are so tight. I have tried multiple stores...Target, Old Navy, Loft, Ann Taylor, Gap, Banana Republic, NY&CO, Kohls, Dress Barn.

So I am reaching out....where do you all buy your dress pants?!

Also in my quest for new dress pants comes my quest for workout clothes. I *need* to join the gym and I keep saying I am going to do it. I think Friday I am just going to bring gym clothes to school and change into them and then drive straight to the gym to join on my way home from school. Therefore I can't have an excuse. BUT WHY ARE ALL GYM PANTS SKIN TIGHT? I would say I am "blessed" in the big butt department so I don't want pants that are sticking to my butt as I am attempting to run on the treadmill. I just got a 30% off to Kohls coupon so maybe I can find something from there. I at least want 1 to 2 pairs and then I will get some shorts for the spring/summer. 

Also, who is in it for the Power Ball? We are pooling money together at work to buy tickets. Everyone is joking that if they win they are retiring early! Haha! I would be happy if I won anything. I also saw this on Facebook and had myself a good laugh:

 

Welcome 2016!

It kind of blows my mind that we are in 2016. It grosses me out because that means I have been out of college for almost 7 years, high school for almost 11 years and my goddaughter is going to graduate elementary school this year. WHERE DOES TIME GO?! 

2015 seems like it was a blur. I almost feel like I did not do anything spectacular! I was looking back at previous posts to see what fun things I did and in comparison to other blogger recaps, I apparently had a boring 2015. But you know what? I am quite okay with that! Everyone is so individual and sometimes, a laid back year is just what is needed! What on Earth happened in 2015?

{January}
-Made it to the half way point of my first year of teaching. I think I drank a lot of wine at this point. Compared to where I was LAST year at this time and where I am now are TWO completely different spots. I feel *somewhat* more prepared this year (even though I am changing stuff around).

{February}
-We had a lot of snow. Not cool.

-My best friend from college, Stephanie, got engaged! 

-I saw Aladdin on Broadway with my mom! It was fantastic!

-I also chopped off my hair really short! I miss it this length!

{March}
-Nothing exciting apparently happened. This always happens in March. This year will be different with April & Tim's wedding!

{April}
-My best friend April got engaged!!! Tim proposed in front of the castle at Magic Kingdom and it is fitting because they both love Disney & they exchanged their first I Love Yous in Disney. Now this year they're getting married and I am the maid of honor!!!

 

-We also celebrated my niece Emma & mom's birthdays! Plus Easter, all of which I don't have any pictures from. Oh yeah, because I worked on EASTER! #whoeatspizzaoneastersunday

 

{May}

-Went to my friend Anjelica's son's christening!! We work together in the restaurant so little Mikey is like everyone's little nephew.

 

{June}
-Finished my first year of teaching! It was such an overwhelming year but also I learned so much about myself as a person and as a teacher.

-Celebrated Cheree's retirement! Cheree was like a "work" mom. I shared a room with her. Pictured with us below is Ilana, who was Cheree's TA and replaced her! Ilana is just a doll!

{July}
-Went to Disney! I am *finally* getting around to uploading my pictures [and plan on recapping them so so so late] but here's a taste:

I also saw Taylor Swift in concert at Met Life Stadium the same day I took the French CST for the second time (yeah...gotta take that AGAIN)

My niece's also had their dance recital (and I just recapped this month backwards...haha)

{August}
-I got to go to Georgia to see my best friend Stephanie! 

{September}
-Started year 2 of teaching! 

-Took my mom to see Billy Joel at MSG. He was FANTASTIC!!! So proud to call him a fellow Long Islander!

-We also unexpectedly welcomed my cousin David's son Lincoln into the world at 23 weeks and 6 days. Lincoln is a NICU miracle...he came home yesterday! (Even though he is on oxygen). That little baby is a fighter!

{October}
-Started looking at cars because I was determined to NOT have the same issues I had the previous winter. 

-Worked as usual. March and October tend to be boring months!

{November}
-Picked up my new car, Holly the Honda! Its a 2015 Honda CR-V. I am leasing with the option to buy and even though I wish I had done more than 10,000 miles per year on the lease, I am not worried since I am buying it out at the end. It was my first ADULT purchase. 

-I also did a Paint Nite with my friend Marisa for my birthday. This is why I teach Spanish & French....NOT art! 

{December}
-My niece Sara turned 11. Cue the water works because she will FOREVER be my bald niece! 

-My grandma turned 92!

-I did another Paint Nite with Marisa for HER birthday.

-Celebrated Christmas! Again, I am behind in updating my pictures. Maybe 2016 will be a productive year.


I am really looking forward to 2016. FOUR of my friends are getting married!! (April on March 6, Heather on June 4, Stephanie on October 15 in Miami, FL and Olivia on October 21!). It is going to be such an amazing, yet chaotic year. And somewhere, in this craziness, I would like to fall in love. I've been single for over three years. Maybe I am picky. Maybe my standards are too high. I don't wanna go for guys younger than me because I've been down that road. 

But who knows what 2016 will bring or hold! I am going into it with an optimistic mind, my friends! And you know, maybe blog a little more. ;)

Hello December!

Wow, the last time I blogged was November 11th. I guess I don't lead that of an exciting life that I need to blog every day, ha ha! Either that or I am just lazy. Or busy. Let's go with busy, shall we?!

Since I blogged last time, some exciting things happened. And some not so exciting things!

My birthday was on the 18th of November! I am officially in the last year of my 20's. Insert life freak out/breakdown here. Back when I was 15, I never pictured I would be single and still living at home at 29 (ahh, the beauty of teenage dreams). But who knows what 29 will bring? I know I am going to be a little more active in looking to have a dating life. And how did I celebrate my birthday, you might ask? Parent teacher conferences! What, what! So thrilling.

Just kidding. Yeah, no I really did have conferences on my birthday but I went out to dinner with a few other teachers (including one who had a birthday the following Monday) so that was nice. The next night my friend Marisa and I went to one of those Paint Nites. We went to a local restaurant. Now, I am no means an artist. I use stick figures for everything I draw when I teach (or clipart I buy on TpT). So when we decided to do one, I chose an easy painting. I got it off Groupon and we went the night after my birthday.

This is what it should have looked like...

And this is what mine came out looking like...

It is a good thing that I don't teach art!! My friend Marisa and I liked it so much we are doing one on the 14th for her birthday! 

We had Thanksgiving at my house and it was nice. I helped my mom clean and it was nice to have a home cooked meal for once. Oh, and to NOT be at work. I did have to work my second job at the restaurant on the weekend but it wasn't that busy. 

I also got my bridesmaid dress for my best friend April's wedding. The wedding is not until March 6 but since her bridesmaids are all over the country, we ordered online. It came from Azazie and the prices were pretty reasonable. They were a custom order and it's a little tight in the back so I have to have it let out a bit. No big deal. You'll just have to wait and see what the color is. But it is a Cinderella blue.

Hopefully this weekend I will get all the Christmas stuff down and begin decorating. Every few years we get a real tree and this year is the case. Last time we had one, I closed the front door and the hole thing fell over! Lol! We tie it down too. 

I don't know if I had talked about it before but at the end of February, I am chaperoning a trip to Quebec with my friend Ronny, the other French teacher. I think there are currently 36 kids going! We leave on the last Saturday and come back Tuesday, March 1. March 3, I fly out for April and Tim's wedding! I am super excited to go to Quebec because I have never been. 

The Saturday before Thanksgiving, I took the CLEP test for French. French was my minor in college and in NYS, you can teach 1 subject out of your content area. I always wanted to get my French certification because not only would it make me more marketable (when I was job searching), my pay would go up and I like it! My minor in college got me 16 credits. So I applied to the state for it last year. They told me I was missing 5 of the 30 required credits (because I was already certified in Spanish, they counted 6 of those credits towards my 30, so 16 + 6 = 22). PLUS, they credited me for my intermediate French 2 class I took my first semester. So I only needed 5 credits and the state content test. The content test for Spanish was ridiculously hard that it took me 3 times to pass that. No one I know has passed it on the first time. I have taken the French one twice and it is equally as hard. 

So after taking the CLEP test on the Saturday, I got the missing credits I needed!!!! I was over the moon. I am now just waiting for the state to update my TEACH account and then all I will have to do is pass the CST. My options to take it are in February, April, and July before they change it so let's hope I pass it!

Holly the Honda!

Well, I did it. I became an adult last Saturday. HA! Just kidding, I have been an adult for awhile. But I felt like I really reached adult status when I went to pick up my new car, Holly the Honda CR-V.

I was a lucky kid and my mom essentially gave me the best first car out of all my siblings. Originally, I was suppose to get my brother's old Corolla when I got my license, drive that for about 3 years and when I graduated college, my mom was going to give me her old Camry til I could get a new car myself. Well, my brother Brian messed that plan up when he totaled the Corolla on his way back to school in a snow storm my freshmen year of college (his junior year). He had also totaled my mom's Suburban a few years before that. So after doing a lot of searching for months (I also didn't get my license until the first year of college was over so that helped my mom out), my mom ended up getting me a 2004 Toyota Corolla that had just come back off a 2 year lease.

I had named her Cora the Corolla. Yes, I name my cars. That car was my baby for the last 9 years. My mom luckily paid it off for me so I just had to pay the maintenance, the registration fee, etc.

But over the last year with my long commute to work and the crappy winters we have had in New York, I wanted something bigger. I just liked the look of the Honda CR-V. My friend Sarah from work drove one and when we went out to lunch one day last year, it drove so nicely. So many other teachers have work have one. I kept reading Consumer Reports and looked at the ratings and all the safety features. I had also contemplated a Nissan Murano and a Nissan Rouge, but I kept going back to the CR-V.

My mom said that she kept reading the Farmer's Almanac and that this winter was suppose to be bad. With my commute on any given day 30-45 minutes, she wanted me in something a little safer/bigger. So we went looking at the Honda CR-V's. The first dealership I went to, I saw a dark blue one and fell in love. I sat in it and was sold. I know that may seem foolish but I was. I wasn't buying it that day but the salesman explained my options on leasing versus buying it outright. And I knew that as soon as I bought it outright, the value of the car depreciates the moment you drive it off the lot.

Logically, I knew with my student loan payments, rent, and all my other bills, I couldn't afford a high monthly car payment. Luckily, having good credit paid off! I decided to lease the car since it was a payment that I could afford. And I plan on buying it out in the end of my lease because *hopefully* I will have more money by that point.

I have been super happy driving it the past few days and really glad I went with this car!

To Lease...or To Buy?

That is the big question floating around in my brain lately!

I am looking to get a new car. I currently drive a 2004 Toyota Corolla. Those things are built to last it feels like. While mine is not breaking apart week by week (trust me...I have had my fair share of HUGE repairs), I drive a lengthy commute to work. It's at least 25 miles there & 25 miles back home. So 50 miles a day times 5 days a week = 250 miles I am putting on my car a week...JUST driving to work! I know some other people drive far for work. But with the amount of snow we had last year in NY and the prediction for this winter, I want something a little bigger.

I have had my heart set on a CR-V. So I went and looked last weekend with my mom. I have done my research for months and it is a highly rated car. Super safe! Love that it comes with the back up camera feature. So we went and looked on Sunday last week and I sat in one. My mom for some reason thought with me being tall it wouldn't be comfortable to drive. Negative! But since I am the type of person that likes to shop around, I knew I wouldn't walk in and buy it. Apparently it is now cheaper to lease the car then to buy it out right at first. You can lease and the monthly payments are pretty cheap. The first dealership I went to was $229 a month for a 3 year lease. I didn't think that was terrible. If I bought it, it would be $399 a month. Again, not terrible but with my student loans I am trying to pay off, I would rather not have something that high. Plus they had a dark blue CR-V which I loved!

So I went to another dealership on Friday night and looked. It was the one my aunt & uncle buy all their Hondas from. Apparently I would only have to pay $299 a month with a .96% interest. The monthly payments to buy it would be $469. The lower payments of leasing are really appealing to me because it is something I can afford.

So I am kinda stuck. I am not sure to lease or to buy. If I lease I have the option to buy it out in the end. My brother asked his friend who does car auctions about it and he said that they almost "push" leashes on you because if you trade it back in, they can make more $$ off it. He is going to see if he can get me a CR-V at an auction with low mileage on it (like 3000). I am not opposed to having a certified pre-owned car...my current car came off a 2 year least with 25,000 on it which is not terrible. (All the pre-owned certified ones at the dealerships have like 50,000+ miles on them ALREADY!). I almost feel like leasing and buying out in the end would be a better option. Yes, I might have to pay more then I would want to in the end but I am looking to make this my first big adult purchase. And its a big one!

I hope to have it figured out soon and in my car by the time the winter is really here! 

Life's musings

We are finally into the second month of school. It's hard to believe that summer flew by in some regards and in other regards, it dragged on. I still need to blog about my Disney vacation [because who does not love Disney?!]! 

The first month of school was a bit discombobulated. Teachers started 9/1 with professional development day, kids came the next day. Then we had a 3 day weekend because of labor day. Then it was a 4 day weekend because we had off for the Jewish Holidays. The week after that, we had Wednesday off for Yom Kippur. So it wasn't until September 28th that we had the FIRST full week of school. Crazy!

My schedule changed a bit the first month of school but it should be going back to my original schedule on Wednesday. Getting to know my one class of my French kiddies has been interesting. I only have 24 kids (15 girls and 9 boys) with 2 sets of twins in the class! Last year I had one set of twins. The boys are probably going to give me a run for my money because they still have elementary school behavior ("He took my pencil!"). Overall, it has been an interesting start.

I didn't pass my French CST test the second time I took it and I need to retake it. I could have taken it this month but did not feel prepared. So I decided to wait until February to take it. Give myself more time to study (which, let's face it, I need to start doing!!!). I can take it February, April, and July if necessary before they change the format for the 2016-2017 year. It is one of my goals to get it because once my friend Ronny, the other French teacher, retires, I would love to remain in the middle school and just teach the 6,7,8 French classes AND then some Spanish classes. I don't want to give up my primary love of Spanish! 

I am super excited though to be chaperoning the trip with Ronny to Quebec in February. Originally, she wanted to go the first weekend in March (because we would be gone Monday & Tuesday which is Foreign Language Week) but that is the weekend April is getting married. And I am the maid of honor in her wedding. So Ronny was gracious enough to change it to the weekend before! So, we leave on a Saturday morning and come back Tuesday night. I am super excited because I have always wanted to go. It should definitely be an interesting trip. 

I went to get fitted for my dress for April's wedding but the one she wanted is no longer available to order which would've been nice for David's Bridal to have told me when I WALKED INTO THE STORE as opposed to AFTER I tried on a dress somewhat similar to it. They didn't even have it in the store "yet" as they said so I had to try on the strapless version. Oh well. As long as I get one soon, it'll all be okay!

Billy Joel Concert!

I apparently never blog anymore. No worries....I am still alive!

On September 25th, I took my mom to see Billy Joel at Madison Square Garden in NYC! It was her combined birthday/Mother's Day/retirement gift. She has always wanted to see him as I have wanted to see him too. I would have tried to get tickets to his show at Nassau Coliseum on Long Island (he played the LAST concert EVER there) but the tickets were too expensive.

I got floor seats and they were pretty good! No, they were not right in front of the stage but that's okay! I used my iPhone to take pictures but sometimes they don't come out the best. Maybe its because I need to update my software! [Or get a new phone since it says I cannot update the software!]

What's really cool about Billy Joel is he has SO MUCH material that his set list is never the same every month at MSG. One of the employees was telling us that for the first three shows when he started playing there, he didn't play "We Didn't Start the Fire" (a classic!). Then the fourth show, he played it. 

He definitely played my favorites, "We Didn't Start the Fire", "Uptown Girl", "Piano Man", and "It's Still Rock and Roll to Me." There were some songs I would have liked to hear but it was a FANTASTIC show! Well worth the money and the best part was my mom had a blast. She deserved it!