FCCLA Week

Freakin' FCCLA... (that was for you Hannah)  This past week was FCCLA Week.  While I do not detest FCCLA like I did last year, it is still not my number one club.  At least I get paid to do it this year and boy did I earn my extra $2,000 this week!  Let me break down this week for y'all.. I'll try to keep the complaining to a minimum.  Please keep in mind that Wed-Sat, I had been at a FACS conference and literally worked on STAR Events every spare minute I had.  I'm just a little overloaded...

After our conferece wrapped up on Saturday, Mama and I went back to Bremen.  Sunday was really my only day to prep for the crazy week ahead as well as get some STAR events stuff done!    Sunday morning my lovely assistant, Daddy, and I donned our denim aprons (a gift from GATFACS...wtheck?!) and got to work making 120 cupcakes for Member Appreciation Day on Monday.  After we baked to our hearts delight, we went for a little run.  When we came back we stopped by Memommy's and D'Daddy's to go root through the barn.  I have a very distinct idea for our Chapter Service Display project for STAR Events and I needed some wood to make the display.  We found this great old door and a pair of louvered doors which we cut down to regulation size.  My dad worked hard to clean them up and he put the hinges back on them.  Look at all his hard work!  He got done just in time for the Super Bowl.  During the Super Bowl, Mama and I worked on cutting fabric for my 4th period class.  We started a new service project this week which I am super excited about!  They are making a quilt that will look like this...  It is going to be donated to a silent auction just like we did with the quilt that my kids made while I was student teaching.  I'm just a little bit hoping that Mama and Daddy might bid on it again, so I can have something to remember my kiddos by!

By the time we got done cutting out fabric, Xtina had butchered the National Anthem, the Black Eyed Peas had thrown down, the Pack had taken care of the terrible person that is Ben Rothelsberger, and it was far too late and I was far too tired to drive back to Athens. 

Monday I woke up bright and early (4 AM!!) to drive back to Athens, unload Dooley, hit Starbucks, and get to work.  Monday was Member Appreciation Day, so I utilized all of my Christmas presents and loaded up my cupcake displays!  They were a hit..especially my homemade vanilla butter cream frosting! 

Monday was also the day that the plague started to hit. Okay, I'm exagerating.. My throat started to hurt a little, but I blamed exhaustion and boy was I exhausted. I went home and CRASHED!

Tuesday was Hat Day for a $1 to raise money for CMN. It was a big success! We raised over $100!! I was extremely happy! Tuesday after school was the workshop for my students to do their lessons for the Focus on Children and Illustrated Talk projects for STAR Events. My girls developed a lesson to teach the kiddos about germs and the importance of washing their hands! They did SO GOOD! I was so proud of them!
 

After that wrapped up, I headed to Atlanta to meet up with Don for FCCLA Day at the Hawks. Neither of us had ever been to a Hawks game before, and, even though we lost terribly, it was a good time! It was great getting to catch up with him and hear all about his new big boy job!

Wednesday was "Wear Red and White Day" aka.. Ms Beltz is taking a break day.. Unfortunately this is the day that the plague took hold.  It hit me and Megan.. I was convinced it was strep.. I was dying..

Thursday was FCCLA Day at the Capitol.  We were a little uncertain if we were going to get to go or not.  It was supposed to snow that day and while the predicted temperatures made me think that it wouldn't be a big deal.. I was still a little concerned.  That morning I woke up to find that it had snowed, but all the roads were fine so we were going to Atlanta!  After some confusion about transportation (the county vehicle we were supposed to be taking was missing a seat.. A WHOLE SEAT!) and I got my coffee, we were on our way.  Our first stop of the day was the Capitol.  My kids got their picture taken on the stairs with Nathan Deal, went up to the 4th floor and did their scavenger hunts, got to sit in the Senate gallery, and then they got to go on the Senate floor and get their picture taken in the well!  Then we went over to the Coverdell Building and met with Mr. Bill.  Mr. Bill is my friend Sandy's dad who just so happens to be a Senator.  I feel that this is very convienient because well.. I couldn't even tell you who the Reps or Senators from Athens or Madison County are.  I'm still registered to vote in Bremen!  Mr. Bill did tell the kids who their Senator was and we popped over to his office while we were in the building! 

After we got done at the Capitol we headed over to Hard Rock where I had my favorite meal ever and we all got changed into our comfies!  After that we were off to the World of Coke!  So much fun!  I'm so glad I got to experience the new one with my middle schoolers!  I really got to appreicate it from the kids level!  They thoroughly appreicated the history of coke as well as the 4D movie and the tasting lab!  I had such a good group of girls!  They helped me forget how sick I really was, but it all hit me again on our way back to the school. 

When we got back I went and wrote up sub plans for the next day and called Mrs. Faye.  I would not be there on Friday because a) I was pretty sure I was running a fever, b) My throat was going to need to be removed, and c)I was sick and tired.. So Friday, instead of having a Spaghetti Dinner, I drove back through Atlanta for the 4th time in 5 days and went to the doctor.  The good news?  No strep.  The bad news... Its a sinus infection.. but now I have antibiotics and 2 days to rest and recoup!  Our FCCLA Dinner and a Movie Night was rescheduled for Monday so hopefully I will be over the crud in time to make a lovely Valentine's Day meal for myself and 30 of my favorite 11-14 year olds.. (What happened to my New Year goals?!) 

Today has been lovely.  I slept in and then I have sat on the couch all day and watched movies.. I think the TV powers that be knew I was sick and wanted to watch movies so they put only the good romantic comedies on.. Not the ones that make single people to jump off buildings, but the ones that actually make fun of themselves a little bit.. I appreciate that since I didn't really have the energy to make fun of them for them.  The best part of today?  I haven't done a lick of work or anything FCCLA related.  Its been amazing!  Sadly I know that I have to write a speech tomorrow, but I'll take it.. I just needed a day off.. Now off to Memommy and D'daddy's for Saturday Night Dinner! 

Here, There, and Everywhere!

Since I am kind of here, there, and everywhere this summer, I thought that a blog would be a good way to keep all of y’all up to date with all of my adventures!

To catch y’all up to this point..

Early in May, I went out to Searcy, Arkansas for Chelsie’s wedding. It was great getting to catch up with Leah, Blas, and Lindley (some of my friends from high school)! I hadn’t seen Blas or Lindley in TWO years! Chelsie was an absolutely beautiful bride! It is crazy how fast we are all growing up!

About a week after I got back from Arkansas, Don and I left to drive up to Wisconsin to meet his cousins! After driving for 16 hours and braving rush hour in Chicago, we arrived! Stephanie, Don’s cousin, was incredibly hospitable!! First, we spent some time in Oshkosh. We toured a cheese factory and got the low down on cheese curds and rennet! (For my FACS ladies… I swear it was like a Brigman lecture! I knew all about the stuff he was talking about from food science!) Then we went to the local Oshkosh Zoo where we got to feed llamas! Stephanie’s parents came down and we had lunch with them. Don finally got to meet his mom’s brother, Uncle Bob.

Then we went to visit her sister, Don’s other cousin, down in Racine. We toured the Sprecher brewery in Milwaukee, went to Six Flags down around Chicago, toured the Jelly Belly factory and bought entirely too many jelly beans, and then we shopped a little! Racine was such a cute little town! It is right on the water and it really felt like a New England town! We went to the Racine Zoo also which was a little bigger than the one in Oshkosh. There were giraffes, rhinos, lions, tigers, and bears…oh my! There were also kangaroos… Don and I always wondered what sound kangaroos made and we found out! There was not really a barrier between the kangaroos and the walk way. They were just free to hop around the whole little area. Well one was really close to the walk way and the guys were standing kind of near it, so I walked up to take a picture of how close they were! Well, Mr. Kangaroo apparently was not a fan of me… he GROWLED at me!! In retrospect it was hilarious, but at the time it was terrifying!!! However, I still got a picture! After my close encounter, we went down to the beach and Don dipped my toes in FREEZING Lake Michigan! We had a great time in Racine! Thanks Amanda and Jason!

We then headed back up to Oshkosh to celebrate Stephanie’s 21^st birthday! We grilled out some brats and watched Disney movies all day while playing cribbage! Then we went and played some putt putt. I got a hole-in-one!! That night we went out to eat and then went to the campus bars! I was crazy seeing their bars (all three of them) compared to downtown Athens! I can’t wait for them to come down here and see Athens!!

Then it was time for me and Don to head home, but we couldn’t pass up a chance to stop in Chicago for one night to celebrate our three year anniversary! I had set up lots of stuff for us to do in Chicago! First we hopped on the double-decker tour bus and rode around Chicago hearing about all of the cool architecture and random trivia about the city! Then we hopped off at Millennium Park to grab some good old fashioned Chicago style pizza for lunch! We then walked the 10 bocks to the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago for Mr. Economics to explore! I’m not going to lie… even I had fun there! We got our picture taken with a million dollars, we got to identify counterfeit money, and we left with a whole bag of money, shredded of course! I had also bought us tickets to the Harry Potter Exhibition at the Museum of Science and Industry. The trolley to the museum left at 3:40… We were having such a good time at the Federal Reserve we completely lost track of time! We looked down at our watches and it was 3:30! We had 10 minutes to go 10 blocks… we SPRINTED back to the trolley!!!! Running after eating Chicago style pizza is NOT a good idea, but thankfully we made it to the trolley in time and we were able to enjoy a nice trolley ride down to the museum. On the way, we saw the heavily guarded street that Obama’s house is on…

The exhibition was AMAZING!!! I was sorted into Gryffindor, of course! Then we got to see all kinds of props from the movies, even some from the one that is coming out this summer!! Words can’t describe how cool it was! As mad as the movies make me, it made me feel a little bit better to know that SO MUCH detail is put into the props! While most of the stuff we weren’t allowed to touch or even take pictures of, there were some interactive elements! We got to pull mandrakes out of their pots (however, they did not give us earmuffs), we got to sit in Hagrid’s chair, and, our favorite of course, we got to toss the Quaffle! Don and I both would definitely be Chasers! It was SO COOL!!! I managed to sneak some pictures with my phone…

My Aunt Judy met us at the museum and we went to Navy Pier for dinner. We ate at Bubba Gumps which was amazing and it was so great to get to catch up with her! We then headed back to the hotel to call it a night! The next morning we got a little shopping in and we ate lunch in Water Tower Place at the coolest food court we have ever been to before heading home. On the way home, Don convinced me to stop at White Castle!

We had such an amazing time! Thank you Stephanie for being such a wonderful hostess! I can’t wait until y’all come down here!