Fig Lang !

For our 6th grade figurative language scholars! 

Lyrics

Chorus
Sometimes what you mean is not exactly what you say
That’s figurative language, using words in different ways
Personification, alliteration, assonance, hyperbole
Onomatopoeia, metaphor, and simile

Verse I
When Sally seems to sit somewhere separate from Sonia,
Or Caleb calls Chris ‘cause he’s coming to California
It’s called alliteration: that’s what occurs
When you got the same sound at the start of every word
But when you’ve got a vowel sound that keeps sounding the same
That’s a figure called assonance, yeah, that’s its name
It’s what I’m trying to define by providing this example
But I cannot deny that assonance can be a handful

Chorus

Verse II
A simile is something that you use to compare
Two unrelated things with an element that’s shared
My mind is like an ocean; it’s as smooth as jazz
But it’s only a simile if it uses “like” or “as”
A metaphor is similar, but watch out!
Be careful ’cause you’ve got to leave “like” and “as” out
My mind is an ocean; my words are a river,
So keep your ears open as I continue to deliver

Chorus

Verse III
Now if the sun’s smiling down, or the boat hugged the shore
That’s personification, nothing less, nothing more
But with a buzz or a ding or a hiss or a roar
That’s onomatopoeia that we’re using for sure
Hyperbole: man, that’s like a million times harder!
Take something true, then exaggerate it way farther
Now you’ve heard this song from beginning to the finish
Now you’ve got some tools to draw your literary image

Lessons Learned '11

11 lessons learned in '11: 

1. Procrastination fuels productivity. 
2. Moving is expensive! 
3. The best of friends don't have to live on the same street, same city, or same state. 
4. Marriage does get better with time. 
5. Choose to forgive, choose to love. 
6. Always deescalate.
7. Take care of myself first in order to take care of others. 
8. "I can do anything, but I can't do everything."
9. My $35 Y membership may be the most important bill I pay. 
10. Being called into urban education is a blessing and a burden. 
11. The path less traveled is always the most rewarding. 


Hopes for '12 Looking ahead to the upcoming year, I hope to...
Work less 
Work out often 
Eat fresh 
take risks 
Pray frequently
Thank 
Love like Jesus 
Serve my husband 
Encourage 
Savor 
Travel 
Enjoy every moment in this phase of our life. 


Let's go 2012! It's going to be a great year!!!

For I know the plans I have for you. says the Lord. They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. jeremiah.twenty nine.eleven.

P interest L ove

If you don't know about Pinterest, oh you are missing out. It's like a virtual vision board with pictures or how to's of every facet of life.

pinterest.com

For this creative DIY girl at heart, it makes me super happy to browse for fun and new ideas for the home, teacher things, or sweet quotes.

My favorite part of Pinterest may be the clothes. Some brilliant person, not me, has created these mini clothing boards... Almost like paper dolls without the doll. such as...

It really has become the deciding factor in my daily wardrobe decisions. The biggest compliment my sweet husband can give me lately is "Is that a Pinterest outfit?" Why yes it is, thank you! It has forced me to use the clothes hanging in my closet to create fun, trendy outfits.

A few of my Pinterest inspired staples:
Red Toms
Skinny waist belt
Thick brown bow waist belt
Riding boots
A rainbow of cardigans
Skinny jeans & Wide leg jeans
Solid color dresses to be paired with colorful accessories
Chunky necklaces
Dainty gold monogram necklace
Scarves and more scarves
White button up dress shirt, paired with any of the above

all photos pulled from pinterest.com

The most valuable lesson Pinterest has taught me is instead of giving into the ever present media inspired encouragement to buy new things, I have just about any and everything I would need to make a cute outfit right in front of me. Does this mean my desire to shop has disappeared? Of course not! But I will be more mindful of when I do buy.

Signing off with powerful scripture-
You should clothe yourselves instead with the beauty that comes within. The unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God. 
first Peter three four

broken stuff

Once August rolls around, I feel like I disappear into teacher world. 
The first week always brings me excitement, slight anxiety, and just enough nerves to make it come together.  After a lazy summer, I suddenly kick into high gear and surrender my life over to a classroom.  This year presented a larger barrier than I have had in the past.  Switching schools is a challenge in itself, I don't know where the copier is, I had to figure out where to park, what doors were open at 7 am (if any), or who and where to go when I need something.

This year also challenged my reliability on "stuff."  Half of our building is new, beautiful, Green even!  The other half is old and needs a face lift badly.  My classroom assignment landed me in the old part of the building.  Walking in, I saw mounds of furniture- broken desks, 6 filing cabinets, graffiti on chairs, you name it, it was in there.  I later find out my room was the dumping ground for broken things for the past few years.... great.  After our incredibly helpful custodian helped me rid my classroom of junk, I was left with white cinderblock walls in an awkward rectangular shape, a projector with no cables, 1 window, a few desks, 4 whiteboards that are not magnetic, and 1 bulletin board. No computers, no SmartBoard (gasp!).  I had become dependent on my interactive whiteboard for the last 3 years and now I do not have a computer in my room.  Needless to say, my idea of what teaching looked like was hit dead in the face. 

So after my pity party, and a few inspirational words from Dad, I was off and running to renovate this white space into a learning environment!  My Dad reaffirmed me that the best thing my students will have is ME.  Take away the pretty, techy things, and I am left.  I am the teacher to begin with, right?  So after 5 years, I started over.  I am having to rethink teaching in a new context for the sake of learning, not my comfort. 

A few classroom improvements:
- make a tree! my mom suggested using butcher paper to make something colorful on the walls.  I chose a tree (genre tree) and it inspired the rest of my week.
- paint the whiteboard trim, another teacher suggested this and it was a great idea! I chose yellow to brighten it up.
- curtain to bring more attention to my one window, thank you Mom
- Be a vulture! I began roaming the halls finding give aways and unwanted furniture that I could use... best find? an extra bulletin board that fell off the main hallway, sure I'll take it!
- Ask! I am not afraid to ask to borrow a drill, ask for extra chairs, computers, etc. 
- I get by with a little help from my friends- thanks to my super helpful husband and the Santoros, who just happen to be in town, I felt like I had an army of worker bees helping me lift and label.

**classroom pictures to come! I'm not quite finished yet :)

This is the very short version of my journey in becoming a teacher all over again.  I let the "broken stuff" get in my way of being a teacher.  Teaching starts during the classroom set up, even in the weeks leading up to school.  I had to get over myself to see beyond the stuff.  I learned how to advocate for myself and for my students.  I will ask for what I need, not just what I want.  There will be more challenges, but for now, I'll focus more on the process than the progress.

8 Surprises

During my time in Nashville, I've been pleasantly, and not so pleasantly, surprised:

1. There are LOTS of Alabama fans!!  I can wear my crimson with pride :)

2. There are not many north carolinians, I do wish there were more.  We met a couple who went to State and we were both so excited.  Since TN borders 7 states, there are people from everywhere.

3. Central time rocks!!  It's like your body still operates on Eastern time, just an hour later.  Getting up feels like sleeping in and you go to bed when you get tired.  The only problem would be TV, but the no cable solves that!

4. Either people here smoke more, or they are allowed to smoke in more public places... either way smokers are everywhere!  I try to dodge the smoke and steer clear. 

5.  Nashville is a typically safe place to live.  Again, this is in my short experience here, yet, overall I feel safer than I did in Charlotte...

6. It is not as humid! Nothing like NC, or alabama for that matter.  Even on its hottest days, Nashville has a breeze in the air.

7. My grad program is a perfect fit for me. I had this concern that it would either be completely over my head or I would be the only nerd who was very passionate about education.  Surprisingly, neither are true.  I am in class right now for 7 hours a day with a group who love people and have a true passion for education in urban schools.  We talk about topics and ideas that I have never known existed before.  I feel incredibly empowered and ready to start this next teaching experience with what I can tell will be lifelong friends. 

8. Everyone said it and it is true- we are in LOVE with this city! There are so many things to see and people to meet. (and GOOD food to eat!) We finding our niche slowly and enjoying every moment.

home sweet home

I've finally given in to the high demand for pictures of our cute home in Nashville!

I tried reeeeaaally hard to stick to a budget during this move, it's so hard when you have a cute house to decorate!  So, we only bought 4 things to add to what we already had to decorate our home. I'll label them below.

Enjoy :)

We love Sylvan Park!

Mom's idea to add the teal pillows turned out great, so I started pulling in lots of colors to add with the earth tones in our living room.

We used the blanket chest as a TV stand. 

Purchase #1: big bookshelf, thanks Dad for putting them together :) We needed the storage and it added some height to the room.

View of the front door, stairs to finished half bedroom.

I love this buffet table to fill some space on this stairwell wall.

Purchase #2: the table/chairs I blogged about before.

Kitchen- trying to brighten it up with my red!

Master BR, I used the sheer curtains I had in Charlotte and pulled them in a relaxed bow with brown ribbon.

Other side of our bedroom.

Purchase #3: smaller bookshelf.  The baskets help with the lack of storage space in the teeny closets and the shelves give us a place for more books and albums.

Guest room- this is room is very bland and simple for now.  I'd like to add some curtains with a fun print... I'll work on that in my spare time :)

Guest room 2- only a third of Sam's hat collection

Our 1 bathroom. Even though the bathroom is small, I really like the way it turned out!  Beware visitors, we have to share this space!

Purchase #4: Marshall's medium sized area rug, $20.  I spotted this a few weeks ago and thought it pulls some of those colors together.  I love the print.

Bogey's back yard.  I think she loves it even more than we do!  We absolutely love having a fenced in yard and appreciate the space coming from a townhome.

That's the grand tour!  We are moved in and ready for visitors! :)

one woman's trash is another's treasure

This weekend, my sweet parents came to visit us in Nashville!!  We had such a great time visiting with them.  We stayed busy around the city going to the farmer's market Saturday morning, trying out our new favorite local restaurants, hitting up Starbucks a few times, and getting some much needed projects done around our new home.  I'm lucky to have a very handy dad and crafty, creative mom! 

Our biggest project came unexpectedly! We decided to leave an older table in Charlotte and attempt to find an inexpensive used one on craigslist. I found someone who had posted a list of furniture that lived literally 3 blocks down. We checked it out, and ultimately bought, a solid cherry wood table with a leaf and 6 chairs. Of course it was loved and had minor scratches, but overall the table was a great find! The only problem was the upholstery, of course. This is what I brought home:

Just in case the picture does not do it justice: a teal/purple hued aztec striped upholstery... gag! 

We had 2 days to reuphoster 6 chairs.... Mom and I were up for the challenge.

Tools used:

Scotch guard

staple remover

staple gun

screw driver

 Step 1: Select new upholstery. I chose a textured striped beige upholstery from a local shop in Nashville Textile Fabric Store that just so happened to be 50% off this weekend- Score! I considered a more trendy stripe or print, but decided this would outlast my taste of colors and decorating for years to come.

Step 2: Spray the fabric with Scotch guard. Twice, we were advised to spray with scotch guard before the fabric is cut and fit and then repeat after.  I'm very glad we did this first.

Step 3: Unscrew each seat from the frame- a few spiders escaped!

Step 4: Remove the staples and the old fabric.  You can see the original upholstery- a gold floral... (which I might like better than the aztec teal!)

Step 5: Keep removing staples!  This was the longest part of the process since we faced 2 layers and a cushion underneath that was stuck to the wood. 

Step 6: Remove the wood seat from the previous fabric.  Thanks Mom for doing this part! Yuck!

Step 7: Cut the layers to fit each seat.  We used 2 layers of foam cushion, added a layer of muslin, then cut to fit each piece of upholstery.  We stapled all 4 sides first, then carefully placed the 4 corners.

The finished product!  Of corse it's not perfect or custom made, but it feels good to say I had a part in finishing our chairs!  I think we did a pretty good job at that.  I would have never attempted this on my own without my Mom's guidance, she is able to see a project and make it happen in a short amount of time. Would I do it again? Sure!  Only if Mom helps again! :)