Celebrating Three Years

Today is our 3 year wedding anniversary! HIP HIP HOORAY! Without going into too many personal details, I'll just say that we've been through some really difficult things in the past three years.  There were tons of joyous/silly/wonderful moments, but there were also plenty of tears and lots of stress.  There were times when I honestly wasn't sure whether we would make it to May 8th, 2013, but I am SO incredibly proud of us.  We have learned so much about each other & about what it takes to make a marriage work.  We've made it this far and we're stronger than ever!

I love you so much, Matty.  And I shall end this post with some gratuitous wedding photos....because I can't help myself.  I chose all black & white photos for this year's post (just for kicks).  Mad props to Kellie Kano Photography for rockin' it.

The Newlywed Game {3 Years Later}

I find it hard to believe, but our THREE YEAR ANNIVERSARY is coming up on May 8th (less than a week away!).  In honor of the occasion, I decided to borrow this "spousal game" from Katie @ Keep Calm & Carry On.

How long have we been married?
Matt: Coming up on 3 years
Me: Almost 3 years!

Where was our first date?
Matt: Furmats indoor soccer game {that was his team name}
Me: I'm pretty sure we saw the movie, "Ocean's Twelve" at the Crossroads theater and I came to watch his indoor soccer game {senior year of high school}....

Where was our first kiss?
Matt: Wilder's house after the dance
Me: I have absolutely no idea.  It must've been really memorable.  :)

Who said "I love you" first?
Matt: Me
Me: Again, I have no clue.  If you know me personally, this shouldn't surprise you.  My memory is terrible.

What were our wedding colors?
Matt: Fuchsia & navy (Pink & blue)
Me: Navy blue & fuchsia

What is Ashley's most commonly used phrase?
Matt: I have no idea.
Me: "Awkward turtle" or "Wowzers"

Who is Ashley's celebrity crush?
Matt: Adam Levine {He knows this because we can't watch an episode of The Voice without me drooling all over the place}
Me: Ryan Gosling, Luke Bryan, & Adam Levine at the moment. YOWZAS.

Who is Matt's celebrity crush?
Matt: Carrie Underwood
Me: Carrie Underwood

What is the best meal Ashley has ever cooked for you?
Matt: Chicken cordon bleu
Me: George's BBQ chicken or his mom's lasagna

What is the worst meal Ashley has ever cooked for you?
Matt: Something in a crock pot that got burned
Me: What?!? I never cook terrible meals! :)

What is the most played song on her iPod?
Matt: I have no idea.
Me: My favorite right now is "Cruise" by Florida Georgia Line.  It's my summer jam (& yes, I realize it isn't summer yet.  A girl can dream.)

What would she say is your most annoying habit?
Matt: Chewing
Me: CRUNCHING CHIPS SO LOUDLY.  Or just chewing/eating noises in general.

What is the last thing she does before bed?
Matt: Fart...."think" and wiggle toes? Check phone... {For the record, I do NOT fart before bed.  But I definitely do my "thinking" and sometimes he asks me if I'm wiggling my toes because he can feel it on his side of the bed}
Me: I take out my contacts, check my alarm on my phone, and get my rolls & wedges (from the chiropractor) in place.

If you could throw out one item of her clothing, what would it be?
Matt: Giant purses
Me: Hmm....I don't really know of any clothing items that he dislikes.  Or maybe he's just smart enough to keep his mouth shut.  :)

What would you say is your favorite thing about her?
Matt: "Hard work" and umm...we'll just make it PG and say that he said "ta ta's" if you get my drift.  Giggle.
Me: In our wedding video, he said he loved my "passion" (for teaching, for love, etc).  It was quite adorable.

What is Ashley's blog name?
Matt: According to Ashley
Me: According to Ashley

I also added a few extras that I found online just for funsies!

What time does Ashley leave the house for work?
Matt: Depends on the day...7:30-8am
Me: On Tuesdays, I leave at 7:30am.  On Wednesdays {worst day ever}, I leave at 7:15am.  Most other days, I leave around 7:45am.

What time does Matt leave the house for work?
Matt: 5:15-5:45 depending on days/nights
Me: He should leave around 5:20 or 5:30am (or pm if he's on night shift), but he's always in a rush & it's probably more like 5:40am (or pm).  I'm not 100% sure though because I'm generally unconscious (in the am) or not here (in the pm).

If Ashley wasn't a teacher, what would she do instead?
Matt: No idea
Me: Lots of options! After the year I had last year, you better believe I've thought this one through! Stay at home mom, professional organizer, full time nanny for a wealthy family, work for some type of literacy council or reading foundation {teaching people to read}, something using my Spanish skills, maybe work at a museum.....

If Matt wasn't a police officer, what would he do instead?
Matt: No idea
Me: Be a lawyer!

What is Ashley's least favorite chore?
Matt: Dishes
Me: Cleaning toilets.  Barf.

What is our favorite tv show to watch together?
Matt: Duck Dynasty, Big Bang
Me: Big Bang Theory but we just recently started watching Duck Dynasty too!

What is Ashley's favorite tv show?
Matt: Client List
Me: I have quite a few: Army Wives, The Client List, Revenge, Chicago Fire, Parenthood, Modern Family, New Girl, Grey's Anatomy

What is Matt's favorite tv show?
Matt: Client List, Southland {Note: He walked in our room while I was watching Client List a few weeks ago and now he's hooked, but I don't think he's interested in the acting.  Let's face it....Jennifer Love Hewitt is smokin'  hot!}
Me: Top Gear, any type of Survivor show, any type of "How it's Made" show

What was our first dance song at our wedding?
Matt: Bring It On Home
Me: Bring It On Home by Little Big Town

Let me know if you decide to play along, too! 

Things I Will Not Miss

After two long years (May 2011-May 2013), 5 semesters (summer, fall, spring, fall, spring), and thousands upon thousands of dollars, grad school is finally over.  Can I get an amen?

Final ride to Chapel Hill last Thursday.  Bittersweet! 

To commemorate this VERY special occasion, I have composed a list for you.

Things I Will Not Miss:
- Driving one hour from my school to UNC twice a week
- Paying for gas to fill up my car so it could get me to UNC twice a week
- Having to ask other people to watch my students during dismissal so I can drive to UNC twice a week
- Sitting in class for 3 hours twice a week (Imagine teaching 21 kindergarteners from 8:45-4pm and then going straight to a 3 hour class.  I did that.....twice a week.....for TWO YEARS!)
- Missing family dinners, babysitting opportunities, and NCSU football/basketball games because I had class
- Sitting in really hard wooden chairs in the science classroom at the CCEE for 3 hours at a time
- Boring lectures and powerpoints (Thankfully, only some of the professors did these)
- Reading a BAJILLION pages every week
- Having to read a bajilliion pages of grad school stuff instead of reading fun stuff
- Online discussion boards
- Doing some type of homework every.single.weekend
- Never having free time.....ever.  And if I ever had a free second, I always felt like there was probably something I should be doing.
- Typing papers
- Paying close to $4,000 at one time.....straight out of my bank account.....every semester.  :( :( :( 
- Buying textbooks
- Learning about research methods
- Not being able to eat dinner/spend time with my hubs
- Getting home (and eating dinner) at about 8:45pm twice a week
- Having to pack up my laptop and textbooks (along with my lunch bag/purse/water bottles) while rushing out the door for work in the mornings
- Studying for/paying for/taking the PRAXIS
- Stress and exhaustion

In an effort to bring a little positivity to this blog post, I shall also provide the following list.  It wasn't all bad, y'all.  I actually really enjoyed it most of the time but I sure am glad it's over.  :)

Things I Will Miss:
- Seeing my girl Lulu twice a week
- Hanging out with old friends and new friends  (We were in the same cohort for 2 years and I got really close to some of the girls!)
- Feeling like I'm "in the know" about the hot topics in education
- Awesome professors who are passionate about what they do
- Feeling inspired by awesome professors, classmates, and guest speakers
- Watching videos of educational activists & experts
- Hearing about the experiences of other kindergarten teachers in different districts (sharing advice/complaining together)
- Having a legitimate excuse to leave work early twice a week (Although it was a hassle to get someone else to cover my class and rush out the door, I have to admit it was kind of nice not to hang around until 5:30 or 6pm doing random things like I did before grad school started....)
- Snack time
- Classes where the professors did read alouds (Read alouds are fun for all ages!)
- Learning, growing, changing, challenging myself on a regular basis

 I'm gonna miss these crazy peeps so much! Can you find me? I'm in the middle near the back! 

This is the literacy cohort.  We had every single class together and for a few classes, we joined the math cohort.

On our final night, our professor (one of my faves) ended class with a read aloud -- Hooray for Diffendoofer Day by Dr. Seuss.  Such a fun way to end the night! And now we wait for the big day....May 11th will be here before you know it!

Check!

I meant to post this right after spring break....but then life went back to normal (aka GOT INSANE) and I haven't had one free second until now.  As if the first week back to school after a relaxing spring break isn't terrible enough, our school has a policy where teachers have to eat lunch in the cafeteria with their classes for that entire week to remind them of behavior expectations.  (Usually the assistants cover "lunch duty" while teachers get a 25 minute lunch break and believe me -- 25 minutes isn't very long, but it is DEFINITELY needed).  Oh, and my assistant had to substitute in another room on Monday, had to sub for about 2 hours on Wednesday, and was absent on Friday so.....HOORAY!  Third quarter data needed to be input in the computer....conferences needed to be scheduled....I had to meet with the assistant principal for my final teacher rating summary & PDP stuff.  I was so exhausted that I literally skipped dinner & went to bed around 7:45pm last night.

But here's my spring break recap....finally!

Haircut....CHECK!

Get car detailed....CHECK!

Get oil change/inspection....CHECK!

Pedicure with my sister....CHECK!

Buy iPhone 5 & accessories for my mom's birthday gift....CHECK!

Give her an iPhone tutorial (which was HILARIOUS)....CHECK!

Celebrate my b-day with the in-laws....CHECK! {The picture of all of us was terrible.  Sad face.}

Get a massage....CHECK!

Celebrate my b-day with my mom/aunt/sis/hubs....CHECK!

Change the sheets....CHECK!

Read 4 books....CHECK!

Get my teef cleaned....CHECK!

Chiropractor 2x....CHECK!

Spend a gift card & birthday $$ at the mall....CHECK!

Get rings cleaned....CHECK!

Finally buy ink....CHECK!

Sleep a whole lot....CHECK!

Work on grad school presentation....CHECK!

See a matinee showing of Safe Haven with my MIL....CHECK!

Bring clothes to the tailor....CHECK!

My 26th Birthday

So thankful for another year! This year, my birthday landed on Easter.  How fun! Between Easter goodies and birthday gifts, I seriously racked up!

Some of these goodies are Matt's.  

We got Easter bags/baskets from his parents, my parents, and my aunt.  

Never too old to get a visit from the Easter bunny!

My birthday started out with church & a delicious brunch at Brigs with my family.

We all matched unintentionally.  So funny! 

Then I headed home to relax on the couch & watch "Won't Back Down." Loved it!

That night, my family and I celebrated at Kanki (as usual) and we had yummy Oreo ice cream cake (no surprise there either -- I'm very predictable).

I got lots of lovely gifts!

Still waiting on some adorable necklaces to come in the mail.  They both have been shipped & should be here soon! I ordered them online & my dad and hubby "bought" them for me.  :) Also not pictured is  a super cute travel jewelry organizer from Etsy that my sister "bought" me (aka....yet again, I ordered it and she paid me....it's the best way to shop!).

Who Writes a Spring Break To Do List?

THIS GIRL!

I have a teacher workday tomorrow (boo!) but Spring Break is sorta kinda almost finally here!! Am I the only weirdo that seriously makes a to do list for such an occasion?!?  It's actually getting a little out of control....

~ Two b-day celebrations
~ Read TONS of books (I have Never Let Me Go, Sing You Home, Still Missing, & War Horse on hold at the library....also on the waiting list to download Requiem on my Nook!)
~ Get haircut
~ Get car detailed (Finally use a gift certificate I got for my birthday last year)
~ Get oil changed (Way overdue)
~ Pedicure with my sis (Unfortunately ALSO way overdue)
~ Help mom pick out & accessorize her new cell phone (A birthday gift from my sis & I) - iPhone 5 or Samsung Galaxy 3? Which will it be?
~ Massage (Use gift certificate I got for Christmas) - A massage during Spring Break has become a little tradition of mine.  It's glorious.  Truly one of my favorite things in the world.
~ Dentist appointment
~ Chiropractor appointment x 2
~ Go to the mall to finally use a gift card I got for Christmas (This lady needs a new bra & some spring clothes!)
~ Bring tons of clothes to the tailor & dry cleaners
~ Get my wedding ring professionally cleaned (A random speck of mascara got stuck under the diamond forever ago)
~ Buy ink for the printer (It ran out weeks ago)
~ Catch up on sleep.  Lots and lots of sleep.
~ Work on my grad school presentation & do a little grad school HW
~ Maybe see a matinee?

Are you seeing a trend? It's called "A List of Things a Teacher Never Gets To Do."  To all my teacher friends out there -- LIVE IT UP! I know I will.

Good Things, Bad Things

Good Things
~ It's almost Friday!!!
~ One more month of grad school classes and then I'm done forever!!!
~ I led my first ever professional development workshop for about 20 teachers at my school last Friday.  It went really well and I felt like a rockstar afterwards.  I put a LOT of work into it and everyone really seemed to enjoy it/learn from it, which was the goal.

I focused on the importance of integrating technology into K-2 literacy instruction because every class at our school recently received 2 iPads but I didn't feel that we had adequate training on the best ways to use them.  Near the end of the session, I showed the video below & just threw out the idea of using Twitter in the classroom.  Next thing I knew, almost the entire kindergarten team was on Twitter....then word came that all of first grade was on Twitter, and today I found out that the second grade classes are on Twitter, too!! HOW COOL?!? I started a revolution, y'all!

We love reading about what other classes are up to....and my kiddos are SO surprised when other kindergarten classes at our school tweet that they are learning the SAME THINGS as us! Hahaha! IMAGINE THAT! It's adorable.  For a little while, I'm going to read & type the tweets with a little spelling help from students, but soon I'm going to be brave & let one of my students attempt to type with their own inventive spelling.  Should be interesting!
~ I went to Wilmington with my mom/sis/aunt last weekend to celebrate my mom's fabulous fiftieth birthday! It was a short trip but we managed to meet up with Lulu & her mom for lunch at Jester's Cafe and we did a little shopping & whatnot.
~ I'm loving these songs lately....

Such a cutiepants & I love his voice.

Love that guy and that song.  If you're an NC State fan, you know that they used to play Wagon Wheel all the time at the football games.  It instantly puts a smile on my face & transports me to a gorgeous day at Carter-Finley. 

I like to think I "discovered" this song before everyone else.  I heard it really briefly on a commercial last year...I think Florida Georgia Line was coming to the Longbranch or City Limits.  Anyway, I looked it up on Shazam & I've been jammin' ever since. 

~Spring is here! WOO!
~ My birthday is in 10 days! It's on the weekend and during Spring Break.  What could be better? I've already got a few celebrations lined up & I plan on getting a pedicure & massage during Spring Break.  :)
~ I read "Oh, the Places You'll Go" (by Dr. Seuss) to my kids this week.  They didn't really "get it" but I kinda wanted to cry happy tears as I explained it to them.  "When you grow up, you guys can be anything you want to be.  You can do anything you want to do.  It might get hard, but you have to keep going.  Never give up.  You can do amazing things."  When they grow up one day, I hope they come back to visit their kindergarten teacher so I can find out about the wonderful people they've become.

Bad Things
~ It's the first week of Spring and it's extremely cold! Go away winter weather.  I want to wear skirts and dresses!
~ I've literally read 2 non-grad-school books all year...and one of them was a really short children's book.  Hopefully that'll all change over Spring Break!
~ I haven't seen much of my hubs this week.....or month, really.  My busy life + his busy life = A kiss in passing and a few texts here and there.  Date night tomorrow, though!
~ So remember that little weekend trip to Wilmington for my mom's birthday? Well.....a short trip was cut even shorter when I randomly passed out while waiting for a table at one of my favorite restaurants, Sweet & Savory.  :( :( :( Very scary for my family and very embarrassing for me.  I woke up to random (very kind) strangers fanning me and the EMTs came & everything.  At least this time I knew not to waste my time or money by going to the ER, so we just went to Urgent Care (also a waste of time & money but a lot less money).  Long story short: I saw a primary care doctor yesterday and she's pretty sure I just have this strange thing called vasovagal syncope, which more or less means I'm more prone to pass out than other people.  AWESOME, right? I'm young, tall, and thin and I have pretty low blood pressure normally, so if anything "triggers" it (dehydration, exhaustion, hunger, standing too quickly, too much alcohol, emotional stress, etc etc), my blood pressure could drop drastically and I could pass out.  I'm currently drinking 5 million gallons of water a day in order to hopefully prevent this craziness from ever happening again.  Remember that other time I passed out on the way to a field trip to the pumpkin patch? Yeah, that was really cool.

Other than my weirdo health issue, I can't complain! The school year is winding down....my favorite season is here....life is good!