JAMAICA, MON!

So the big reveal of our Christmas trip came this morning...we are going to JAMAICA! We are sooo excited. My in-laws made us a large bag full of goodies...sunscreen, flip flops, lip balm, a 6 pack of Red Stripe Beer (it's Jamaican), pictures of the resort, and a beach bag! WE CAN'T WAIT! I've been on the resort website several times, checking everything out. If you would like to have a look it's http://www.secretsresorts.com/stjames/index.asp

Pretty soon we'll be Jamaica bound...see ya on the flip side (with pictures posted)!

Hope you had a Merry Christmas with your family! Remember the reason for the season, the birth of Baby Jesus! Hallelujah! What a glorious occasion!

Feeling truly blessed,
Carrie

16 days off!

16 DAY BREAK FROM WORK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And you can bet I'm going to enjoy every single day of it...

Enough said! Merry Christmas everyone!

Carrie

Boy or Girl?

So, this is a picture of me and my baby sister...who we call, Katie-Baby! We always would sleep together on Christmas Eve and wear matching PJ's. On Christmas morning, we would hold hands and all three of us (Courtney too, my older sister, not pictured) would walk down the stairs together to see what Santa brought us...such wonderful memories! So two years ago, we bought the same pj's and we wore them, and did the same thing we did as little girls. We even got upset we couldn't sleep together because Hunter was in the way...haha! Mom was laughing and took a picture of us and told us we were dorks.

I'm really missing my baby sister this year! Come sleep with me and wear matching pj's with me, Katie!!!!!! Too bad she lives in Florida and I won't be seeing her this year...but we still have our memories! Maybe we can still buy matching Pj's and wear them...ha! We are dorks, but I love my little sissy!

Anyway, back to my title, Boy or Girl. My baby sister is having a baby and she finds out the sex on December 22nd...I can't wait!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! She better let me know ASAP! I'm kinda thinking she might have a boy....but we'll find out for sure in just a few short weeks. I'll keep you posted!

I'm so excited for the Holidays...3 more days of school, then 2 weeks off! Yes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Teaching Rocks!

Wishing I was still a kid,
Carrie

Deer Widow

It's that time of year that every wife hates...that is, those wives who have husbands who hunt!!!

HUNTING SEASON IS HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So this little woman spends most weekends alone! I don't think I'd mind at all if my family lived in this town; however, they don't! So me, myself, and I have to find things to do...usually I rent girly Redbox movies to keep me entertained! I also Christmas shop, I clean the house and do laundry, and I spend countless hours on the phone with my sister, Katie, who keeps me company even though she's 1000 miles away! I do not like being alone, however, I am getting used to it! Maybe someday I'll have a daughter who will stay at home with me...but knowing me I'll get a son and he'll go hunting too....only time will tell (God's time, that is)! So for now, I'll just have to get used to spending the weekends alone...is hunting season over yet??? haha j/k.

This is what I get to look forward to hearing about on Sunday evenings:














Or a little bit of this:

















Oh the joys of marrying a redneck!!!! Can't wait for this season to be over, but shhhhhhhh, don't tell my husband. He gets sad, I get glad!!!! Who wants to stand in the cold and kill things anyway????? NOT ME!

Deer Widow Expert,
Carrie

Destination Unknown

It's December!!!!! Yay!!! I love Christmas time! I had my house decorated as soon as Thanksgiving was over. I really enjoy sitting in my living room at night, watching tv, with the Christmas tree lights on! My wonderful husband decorated the outside with lights, too! It looks great! Now if I could just go shopping and buy some presents, i'd feel better! I think I'll do that this weekend!

Anyway, about the title of my post...my Christmas present from my in-laws is so exciting, this year! We are going on a trip with them and Taylor, Hunter's brother, and the destination is unknown, as of right now. My in-laws are the only people that know where we are going, and they wanted it to be a surprise for us, since it is our Christmas gift. All I know is that it is a warm climate, somewhere I've never been before, and it will be all-inclusive! I CAN'T WAIT!!

Hunter and I have been trying to guess...we know it's not Mexico because there has been some shady stuff going on there, lately, and my mother-in-law was nervous about going there. We've been to the Bahamas, so it's not there....Hawaii is too far and since we're only going for 4 days, that wouldn't be possible. My in-laws have been to St. Thomas and St. John, and they said it's a place none of us have ever been....so I'm trying to decide....any ideas??? My guesses right now are...Aruba, Jamaica (which I doubt), St. Lucia, Antigua, Bermuda,Turks & Cacos (spelling?)...hmmmmmm..... that's all I've got! Only time will tell! I'm really excited!!!! I'll keep yo posted...

Hope you're in the holiday spirit...I know I am. The countdown to Xmas break has begun...12 more days of school!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Happiest Teacher Ever,
Mrs. Scott

Thanksgiving Week!

I have been sooo busy lately with my job, that I haven't had much time to blog. I get home and it's time to make dinner, clean it up, hang with the husband, and go to bed early (yes, early...i get up early!)

The past few weeks have been crazy grading papers, making tests, sending emails, doing interim grades, student council nominations, etc.... Teaching is not an 8-5 Monday thru Friday job. I spent most of my Sunday grading and doing lesson plans. This is why we get summers off...when most people get to enjoy their Sundays, we spend them preparing for the next week! However, it's time to be Thankful....and I truly am Thankful that I have a job that I get to go to everyday and help make a difference in the lives of children. I know some people are out of work right now, and wish they had a job. I do have a job and i'm just glad it's a job I like. It can be stressful at times...and on some days the kids can make me want to pull my hair out (today especially), but I know that I'm doing what God intended for me to do...not only am I teaching math, but through my actions, i'm teaching how to be a respectable, intelligent, responsible, caring, and faithful person!

One more day of work, then it's time for Turkey Day! I CAN'T WAIT!!!!! Enjoy stuffing your faces with food...

Carrie

Then & Now!

So, I was looking through pictures on my computer and came across these bad boys! They are HILARIOUS!!! (Don't tell my husband, he might kill me if he saw I put these pics on here...hahaha!)

THEN......(Senior Trip 2002...we'd been dating for 5-6 months)




Anorexic Hunter...j/k. He grew so fast, he couldn't eat enough to keep up!!!


NOW.....(Key West, Florida 2010...been married for 3 1/2 years)



Some changes are for the better! Most people don't want to gain weight after high school (me)...but people like my husband, obviously need to! haha

Happy Weekend,
Carrie

Call me AUNT CARRIE!

I'm going to be an Aunt again!!!!!!!!!!!!! I absolutely LOVE being an Aunt. I think it's so fun. I only have one niece, Tristan, who is currently 5 years old. She is the funniest, cutest, smartest thing on the block. I love it when she calls me and talks to me on the phone (she lives in Orlando, so I don't see her very often). She cracks me up. Hunter just loves her, too! Now I get to have another niece or nephew...my baby sister, Katie, is PREGNANT!!! Yay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I've had to keep it a secret for the past two months, which was really hard, but now we can finally share the news. I am going to say right now that I think she'll have a BOY! We'll see if I'm right in 6 months....Baby Kintz is due May 14th! I'm excited!!!

Greatest Aunt on the Planet (in my opinion, which is the only one that matters),

Carrie

Who thought 6:10 am would be considered "oversleeping"?

So I had trouble going to sleep last night. Probably the anticipation of the weekend and the Dr. Pepper I drank around 7:00 (yep, that's probably it). My alarm rings on my cell phone at 5:10 am every morning (really sucks, I know). I have to get out of bed around 5:40 to get in the shower with enough time to get ready and out the door by 6:25-6:30 (thank you Pulaski County Schools for changing the start time to 7:30!). You may wonder why my alarm rings at 5:10 and I don't get up until 5:40...well, I like to hit the snooze a few times. Makes me feel better...something about 10 minute intervals that makes me feel like I have so much more time to sleep...haha! So this morning, I guess I snoozed, and snoozed, and snoozed until Hunter's alarm rang at 6:10.

HOLY CRAP, I'M SO LATE WAKING UP...HOW AM I GOING TO SHOWER AND GET OUT OF THE DOOR IN 20 MINUTES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I HAVE TO SHOWER, I LOOK LIKE TOTAL CRAP!!!!!!!! (taking you through my thought process)

Pure Panic...and man can I get ready fast when I need to! I jumped in the shower, which lasted .2 seconds and was running around like a crazy person. I figured I'd better get my eye makeup on because I can't do eyeliner and mascara in the car (especially when it's still dark outside!!). I decided to do my powder and blush on the way...much easier! I wore my hair curly, which is super fast, hallelujah! I made it to school on time, remembered to get my lunch, and grabbed some breakfast. So pleased...now let's just hope that doesn't happen again!!!!!!!! I don't think I could handle another panic attack, especially that early in the morning!

Luckily, I had my clothes picked out. Since I'm a teacher, I decided to wear my Halloween t-shirt my mom bought me. Corny, I know, but the things you do for kids. If I had a picture of myself, I'd post one...but i'm too lazy to do that. So just picture me in an AWESOME Halloween t-shirt, with a picture of a pumpkin, cat, and witch...JEALOUS????????????? You totally should be!!!!

Happy Halloween everybody! Wishing I wasn't too old to trick-or-treat...but wait, i'm so short, if I had a mask, they'd never know...MU HA HA HA HA HA HA!

Carrie

Things that make me Happy!!!

It doesn't take much for me to be happy! I feel as though I'm a pretty happy person. Here are a few things that have made me happy, recently:

-My husband coming straight home after work and not going to the gym
-Talking to my sister on the phone every morning and afternoon
-Eating M&M's for a snack
-Grading quizzes for my students and finding that a lot of them did AWESOME on their fractions quiz WITHOUT a calculator.
-Finding that Nicholas Sparks has a new book out that I haven't read yet
-Cinnamon Applesauce
-Laughing and joking with my students (they are finally getting used to my sarcasm)
-Getting a phone call from my niece...I just love her to pieces!!!
-Watching the shows I DVR weekly!
-Going out to eat on nights I don't want to cook
-Sleeping IN!!!!!!!!!!
-Being tied for 1st place in my Fantasy Football League
-Vanilla Cokes from Sonic
-Thursday nights, knowing that the weekend is ahead of me!
-Having a great home, job, husband, family, and friends!!! I'm so blessed!!!!

Hope you're Happy today! Life's too short to sweat the small stuff! Have a great weekend!

;)
Carrie

Razorback Game! Go Hogs!!!

On Friday evening, I was sitting on the couch watching television, when I got a text from Lindsey Holbert asking me if I wanted to go the the Razorback game on Saturday! I called her immediately and said, "heck yes!" Her sister, Erin, had four tickets to the Razorback game this past Saturday and she couldn't go, so she let Lindsey have the tickets. Lindsey thought it would be fun to make it a girls' trip...which was an excellent idea because Hunter was out of town! Lana and Amanda jumped on board and the four of us made the trip to Fayetteville early Saturday morning. Here we are at the game, all wind blown and ready for action!



We had a great time on the drive up, just laughing and catching up! We parked the car, ate breakfast at Chick-fil-a, then walked to the stadium. We had really good seats, on the 50 yard line, way up high! The first half, the weather was really nice...but then the clouds came in, bringing rain. Even with a little rain, the game was so much fun! We were in really good moods and just so happy to be there. We had to experience a few rain delays, however, we made the most of it. They played on their I-phones with Internet, while I watched them since I don't have an I-Phone...I still have a flip phone which suits me well (and my students tell me my phone it outdated, whateva!!!!). I hiked my jeans up so they wouldnt get wet and they thought I looked like an idiot...imagine that?? I told them that "my give a damn was busted!" haha! They think I'm so weird...do you? Needless to say, we had a blast and made fools of ourselves! And the Razorbacks won....holla!!!!!!!!!!!!

On the ride home, we decided to stop at Braum's in Alma for some ice cream! Yeah! It was delicious!!! It definitely made me happy since I was driving in rain that was so hard to see! But we finally made it home safe and sound! Such a wonderful, spontaneous day with friends!!! Loving my life in my mid (who am I kidding?) 20's. Thanks Lindsey Holbert for the tickets! Love you!!!!

Wishing I could've been on the Jumbo tron,
Carrie

Beef Stew! Yum!

Hunter said he wanted me to make some Beef Stew for watching football! I haven't made it in forever! I pulled out my recipe, today, and went to the store to buy the ingredients. It was so easy and delicious! Why haven't I been making this the past couple of years???? I just had it in my recipe book and completely forgot about it. Thought i'd share it with you guys...you should definitely try it!

1-1/2 to 2 lbs. of stew meat (trim fat & use raw)
1 can green beans (drained)
1 can cut carrots (drained)
3 cans tomato soup
1 pkg. dry french onion soup mix
3 whole potatoes (peeled and cut up bite size)

I put mine all in the crockpot and mixed it up. I added salt and pepper. Cook over low heat for 8 hours or on high heat for 4-6 hours. We ate it with cornbread but Sister Schubert rolls are awesome too!!! I hope you enjoy it during this fall season!

Betty Crocker herself,
Carrie

Student Teacher Update!

Well, I told you that I got a new student teacher a few weeks ago. I was really nervous because he is a 33 year old man. I thought it might be weird to show an older person how to teach, especially a man!! I could tell when he met me that he was surprised by my age and size! But when we finally got past that, everything turned out great! He was such a big help...tomorrow is already his last day!

I have really enjoyed having him in my class. It's nice to have somebody else's perspective and help. He has kept me from having to grade tons of papers over the weekend and spend lots of time entering those grades. I haven't made copies in three weeks because he makes them all for me! He told me that he is basically my "slave" and would do anything I asked of him. How wonderful...can he stay???? haha I love having the help because teachers have so much to do!!!! Not only do I have to teach all day, but I have to grade papers, enter those grades, discipline children, call parents, update my grades weekly for parents, go to conferences, make tests, run student council, make copies, send work for kids who are absent or in ISS, fill out a professional growth plan, turn in my lesson plans every Friday, and the list goes on...............!!!! I feel as though I'm going 90 to nothing ALL DAY LONG!!!! So it's really nice when you have some extra hands! His teacher asked me if I had a student teacher assigned to me next semester because she thought I was doing a good job.....so maybe there is hope for one next semester???? Maybe it's IN MY DREAMS!!

So I have really enjoyed having a student teacher. Not only do I get help, but I get to help them as they work toward becoming an educator. The first nine weeks is over tomorrow...1/4 of the year is already over....WHAT??? Man, time flies by! Here goes another nine weeks...wish me luck!

Teacher of the year,
Carrie Scott (jk)

Birthday Trip to Missouri!!!

I had a WONDERFUL Birthday!!! Hunter took me to Springfield, Missouri to see my family! My parents flew in from Orlando and we met at my uncles' house. My grandparents also made the 95 mile trip for the weekend. There were 10 of us...mom, dad, me, hunter, grandpa, grandma, uncle wayne, aunt dawn, aaron and adam (my cousins)! We got there on Friday night and just visited all evening. I had asked for some money for my birthday, so I could go shopping. I NEVER shop!!!! I hate to spend money and I just wanted to go on a shopping spree. Hunter, his parents, his grandpa, my grandparents, and my sister all gave me money to shop. And man did I!!!!

Saturday the girls spent the day at the Springfield mall! I had a wad full of cash and just loved being able to try clothes on and say "yes, I want this...I'm going to buy it!" I got three pairs of shoes (2 of them are the cutest boots), several sweaters & shirts, 2 pairs of skinny jeans (omg! i'm branching out),dress pants for work (express has "short" which is a must for me), jewelry, underwear...and more! It was great fun and I didn't feel bad about spending any of it. I loved having my family there to encourage me to try new styles...what a great way to spend my actual birthday!!

After shopping, we met up with the boys and had dinner at a Japanese restaurant...so fun (and delish!). We then went to a place called "The Skinny Improv." It was an improv show and they use the audience to help come up with the ideas. Of course they happened to know it was my birthday and they brought me on-stage. I had to sit on a chair while the actors joked and did some skits pretending they knew me from the past. It was pretty funny...I loved it! We then went home for German Chocolate cake and Dairy Queen cake! I opened gifts from my mommy & daddy, sister, and grandma (i got more cute clothes, jewelry and an awesome purse). I feel so blessed! Thanks everyone for making my birthday so special! I didn't want to come home yesterday, but was glad to even get to spend a few days with my family! Love you guys!

All in all, it was a FABULOUS birthday (even if it means I have to turn 27). How is it that Hunter just turned 26 and i'm turning 27??? Ugh!!!! Oh well...Let's just say I have 3 years until i'm 30...

Hope you had a fabulous October weekend!!

This old lady is signing off,
Carrie

Chili Time!

My husband LOVES to make Chili and it's one of my favorite things to eat in the fall/winter. Today, we went to church and there was a nice chill in the air. We got home and he just HAD to make his first pot of chili.

So we went to the store to buy all of the things we need...and we ran into Drew & Lindsey! They were eating lunch in the cafe! Our new Kroger is FABULOUS!!! So many selections...and it's a great place to eat...the sushi staff makes fresh sushi all day and there is a great soup bar and hot food line! It was fun to see them!

We got home and put the chili together...we like to tag-team it! So much fun to cook together on Sundays! He went to go hunting this afternoon, while I stay home to get some things done around the house (mostly school work). I can smell the chili simmering and I am so excited to eat it! I bought fritos, sour cream, and cheese to go in it. Hunter told me to stir the chili while he's gone...he's so afraid I'll forget and leave it there to burn (whatever!)...he really worries about it. He is so funny about his chili...but he's so good at making it!

Speaking of chili, I am kinda chilly myself. Gotta love fall! Ready to bring out those Halloween decorations!

Have a great week!!!!
Carrie

Burn Ban, dangit!

Well, Hunter and I were really pumped to go camping this weekend. Hunter and his father recently purchased a pop-up camper for hunting season and we haven't been able to use it yet. We knew it was going to be a wonderful weekend...finally cool enough at night so we could sleep without getting hot. We reserved our campsite at Wooly Hollow yesterday, and found out last night that there is a BURN BAN!!!

NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We decided not to go camping because we can't even have a campfire...what fun would that be? We wanted to roast marshmallows and cook our dinner in the fire. So no camping for us this weekend...boo!!! We are going to just lay around and watch football instead and enjoy this lovely weekend! But I am looking forward to my birthday next weekend!!!!!!!!!!! I get to see my parents, aunt, uncle, cousins, and grandparents!!!!!!!!!!! Yay!!!!!!!!!!!! (for those of you who don't know, none of my family lives in the same state as me, so when I get to see them it's a HUGE deal!!!!!!!!!!) Can't wait!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Enjoy your weekend...I'll be enjoying mine (just not sitting by a campfire)!

Damn you Smokey Bear (jk),
Carrie

Happy Friday...FINALLY!!!

I LOVE Fridays! I always get sooo excited on Friday, but today I'm especially excited. Here's why:

1. My students wore me out today and I really need the weekend to re-group!!!

2. It's Pay Day...I LOVE pay day!!!

3. I get to go out to dinner with my husband...restaurant TBD!

4. I get to sleep in tomorrow (yay!!! the alarm clock won't ring at 5:10 am)

5. RAZORBACK GAME TOMORROW!!!!!! Go Hogs Go!!!

6. My birthday is two weeks from tomorrow!!! (boo on being 27 though!)


Hope you have a great weekend!!! I know I will!

Holla,
Mrs. Scott

TV SHOWS!

So if you know me, you know that I love me some tv shows. I have to watch all reality shows and always dvr them if I have to miss an episode (which usually makes me mad)! This week, so many new shows are starting and I'm pumped. My new list of tv includes:

Dancing with the Stars
The Biggest Loser
Glee
Survivor
Hell's Kitchen
The Middle
Modern Family
The Apprentice
The Office

And the fun part is that Hunter likes to watch them with me (with the exception of Dancing with the Stars (he hates this one) and Glee- which he kinda likes but won't admit). He has a few other shows that he likes to add: Two and a Half Men, Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Sons of Anarchy, and How I Met Your Mother. Yes, our weeknights consist of watching our shows and discussing them. I know we should probably be doing other things to stimulate our brains; however, this is our "together-time." Also, I know that once we have kids our "tv time" might just change. So for now...we'll just enjoy our quiet nights together.

Feel free to discuss any of these shows with me because I love to talk about them!

This tv junkie is signing off...enjoy your weekly shows ;)

Carrie

Fantasy Football

So I've never done Fantasy Football before, but I'm really lovin' it! My family decided to play against each other for the first time. My mom, dad, sisters, grandpa, uncle, aunt, cousins, etc... are in the league. It was fun drafting players and getting angry at people who stole the person I wanted. If you don't know me, I'm a huge Colts fan. I would've loved to get some Colts players on my team; however, I didn't make that happen. It just so happens that my entire family is from Indiana, so they wanted Colts players too, imagine that??? I did get a pretty awesome team, though. Last week I played my older sister, Courtney, and demolished her!!! I had the highest points of anybody in my family...around 137, I think. Courtney was only in the 40's. This week, I play my other sister, Katie. Let's hope I'll end the weekend 2-0. Sorry Pillow Pooters, the Carebears are going to take you out!!!!! C'mon Chad Ochocinco, Tony Romo, Rashard Mendenhall, Peyton Hillis, etc.... You did me proud last week...let's do it again!

Is it weird that I get nervous choosing who is going to play each week??? I just hate to lose and I don't want to make the wrong decision...I don't think I could ever be a football coach (not that a girl would ever coach football anyway).

I LOVE ME SOME FOOTBALL SEASON!!!!! LET'S GO CAREBEARS!!!!

An awesome fantasy football coach,
Carrie Scott (autographs will be taken at another time)

Sleep Interrupted!

My hormones are all out of whack and the doctor prescribed me a new medicine to take. I want to get my body back to normal, so taking this new medicine, means having to deal with random side effects. I feel as though I'm going through menopause!!!! haha (but I promise i'm not)

One of the side effects is headaches, which is something that I usually deal with all of the time so I didn't know if the medicine was causing this or not. On Sunday night, I woke up in the middle of the night 4 times with horrible hot flashes!!! Have you ever had a hot flash???? Man it's no fun! I threw the covers off of me and just couldn't cool down. Hunter woke up and thought it was rather funny and told me "it's not hot in our room at all." (I am usually the cold one in the house) After tossing and turning all night, trying to cool down, I still had to get up for work (which means my alarm starts going off at 5:10 am....yeah, AWESOME!!) So last night, I was exhausted from teaching all day and couldn't stay awake. I decided to go to bed around 8:30. I fell sound asleep until 2:51 am because I had to use the restroom. From that time until my alarm clock rang, I couldn't fall back to sleep. I was tossing and turning...it's so frustrating when you can't sleep! And usually, I NEVER have trouble sleeping. It was like my eyes popped open and I couldn't do anything about it. All my tossing and turning kept Hunter up too, which I feel bad about! Anyway, I finally got up around 5:30 to get ready for work. I was already thinking about the awesome nap I was going to take as soon as I got home from work...I decided to go look at the list of side effects on my medicine...and there was my answer: INSOMNIA!!! Lovely...now it explains my hot flashes and sleepless nights. Let's hope tonight will be better...I can't stand another night of tossing and turning (and I don't think it's helping me become a better teacher, either!)

MEN HAVE NO IDEA HOW HARD IT IS TO BE A WOMAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hope you get some good sleep tonight,
Carrie

HIllbilly Caviar

This recipe is a great appetizer...and since it's football season, who wouldn't love a new appetizer to munch on while watching the games???

1 can black eyed peas (drained and rinsed)
1 can shoepeg corn (drained)
1 can rotel
1 green pepper cut-up
Diced onion (red or white)
Italian dressing (3/4 of the bottle)
Tostitos (scoops are better)

Coat with dressing by stirring. Chill in refrigerator at least 1 hour. Drain loose liquids out by dumping mix in a strainer. Then serve with chips! (I like to leave some Italian dressing in it for a zesty taste, but you can drain as much as you want)

Enjoy!!! (I'm taking it to the Hogs tailgate tomorrow! Yum!)

Carrie

Lovin' Labor Day Weekend

LABOR DAY WEEKEND WAS AWESOME!!!!

The weather was absolutely beautiful all weekend. And to top it off, the Kegley's came to visit!!! It was so much fun getting to hang out with friends, sleep in, and enjoy an extra day off of work!!! Dove hunting season started on Saturday morning, AWWWWEEEESSSSOOOOMMMMEEEE (can you hear my sarcasm????), which means Hunter is waking up at the butt crack of dawn to go hunting every day!!! At least I get to sleep in; however, he tries to bring home what he has killed and feed it to me for dinner (even more awwweeesssoommmmeee!)

On Friday evening, I enjoyed dinner with Ms. Lori Lee and we had a great time catching up! Saturday we went to Buffalo Wild Wings for dinner to watch the Razorback game with Trevor and Lori...first game of the season, so it was fun to watch. WE WON!!! Way to start off the season! Then we went to Hunters' parents house to finish the rest of the game and Drew and Lindsey joined us! Of course Lindsey and I did more talking than watching the game...surprise surprise!!! On Sunday we got to go see baby Connor Kegley, who is the most handsome little 6 month old I've ever seen. He was all smiles and I just wanted to eat him up!!! Hunter adores him...melts my heart!!! Then we decided we'd have an ADULT evening...we went to dinner at Sr. Tequila with the Summitts, the Kegleys, the Holberts (x2), and the Scotts (my personal favorite, jk)! After dinner we visited Orange Leaf for Frozen Yogurt and it was amazing (if you haven't been, go!)!! So great that Hunter and I went back on Monday! We ended the evening just hanging out at my house...so great to see the Kegleys (thanks for making the trip!!!!! love you guys!).

It was just a fun weekend with great friends!!! Hope your Labor Day Weekend was fabulous!!!

Love, Carrie

Another School Year Begins

Wow! I can't believe the summer is already over!! Boy did it fly by! Another school year begins...and it's been a crazy one so far. We had to move our start time from 8:20 to 7:30, and now I'm getting up sooooo early! I'm not usually a morning person, but I'm learning how to be one. I always thought getting up before 6:00 am was ridiculous...now that's something I do daily. I do enjoy being done with school at 2:50, though. I don't have a last period class, so I'm technically done with students at 2:00, but I can't leave until 2:50.

My classes seem great so far. I have 115+ students...luckily I'm a name person because I was able to memorize their names by the 3rd day of school. I think they like that I learn their names so fast, which helps them behave for me. I do have 5 Pre-Ap classes this year, so I can't complain!!!

Hoping this year will be as successful as last year! Wish me luck!!!

Summertime (June 2010)

I survived another school year and SUMMER IS FINALLY HERE!!!!!!!! Can you tell I'm excited??? Getting summers off is one of the many perks of being a teacher! So many people tell me they want to be a teacher so that they can have summers off...well maybe you should come live my life for a few days and see if you change your mind! haha. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE what I do; however, it takes a lot of work and PATIENCE in order to make it through an entire school year. Did I mention that my students are 13 year olds????? Raging Hormones??? Eye Rolling??? Attitude??? Drama??? Yes, I see plenty of those things on a daily basis. Do you think they care about learning how to solve an equation or how to find the probability of rolling a 5 on a number cube? Not really! However, my job is to make them care. My job is to teach them the math skills they need in order to succeed in life. My job is to teach them manners. My job is to teach them to respect not only me, but the students around them. My job is not only to teach them math, but to teach them the life skills their parents fail to teach them. I think that my job is pretty important!!! There is nothing more fulfilling than to watch my students do the math I teach them, correctly. I can proudly say that 95% of my students were proficient or advanced on this years benchmark. How amazing is that? I pray for my students regularly, and hope I have made a difference in their lives, the way they have made a difference in mine. This is why I choose to teach. I truly believe I was called to be a teacher! Summers off, one of the many perks, which I am currently enjoying; however, I love being a teacher!