oldy moldy

When I started [student] teaching in 2011, I felt like one of the biggest things I had going for me was my youth.  I was only 9-10 years older than my students, so I could totally relate to them.  I still feel this way (I'm only 25!), and I always try and find some way to connect what I'm doing in the classroom to something in the real world that my kids can relate to.

"I'm hip.  I'm with it."

What's that?  You'd like some examples of my alleged hip-ness?

-We talked about similes recently, and instead of using boring examples, I turned to my girl Miley.  "I came in like a wrecking ball..." (Don't worry, there were not any accompanying pictures or videos.)

-I have a classroom Instagram account where I post pictures of what we're doing, helpful study tips, and homework reminders.  Oh, and I use emojis like whoa.

-When we were discussing types of conflict a few weeks ago, I used The Hunger Games to explain the different variations (i.e. Katniss v. President Snow/the Capitol is an example of man v. society).

Earlier this week, I designed a lesson over expository free writing that I thought was another example of me being in tune with "kids these days".  The other English teachers and I gave our kids 3 prompts to choose from, and I showed some video clips and pictures that went with the prompts to get their creative juices flowing.  I was feeling very confident about my lesson!

"7th graders?  No problem."

Well, there's nothing like a bunch of middle schoolers to bring you right back to reality.  It turns out that some of my example choices were (gasp!) dated!  In fact, I referred to some things that they had never even heard of!  How is this possible!  I am OLD!!

So, in an effort to make you feel old too and to help myself feel better, I'd like to share what/who my students didn't know about.

1) Gilmore Girls

This show was on the air from 2000-2007 when my kids were still drinking out of sippy cups, but it is one of my favorites.  I have all of the seasons on DVD and I watch them all the time, so it broke my heart to hear that my students, especially the girls, didn't know about Lorelai and Rory.  Let's get this show back on instead of whatever crap Disney is showing these days.

2) The Brady Bunch

I know this show is super old, but I grew up watching re-runs on Nick at Nite.  Is that not a thing anymore?  The Bradys are iconic...how do kids not know about Marcia Marcia Marcia??  These are the things that keep me up at night.

3) Presidents George Bush & George W. Bush

Obama really has been President for too long.  Is this how people older than me feel when I admit that I don't know very much about Carter and/or Reagan?

So to sum up, I'm old now.  I'm off to try and figure out how tumblr works and to scour the newsstands for the latest issue of J-14.  Please tell me that still exists...

25!

Happy hump day, party people!

I've been wanting to blog about my big bad 25th birthday for awhile, but once again, I've been bit by the busy bug.  (Apparently I've also been bit by the alliteration bug.) I guess planning a wedding while carrying on with normal day-to-day occurrences can do that to ya.

Anyway, I'm here now, so read on!

I'm not a big fan of going all out and making a big shebang out of my birthday, so we kept things low key on Feb. 5 (my actual birthday).  Austin took me out to a delicious dinner at a beautiful restaurant in Dallas called Hibiscus.  We had tuna tartare to start.  For the main course, Austin got a steak and I had one of the specials, white fish on a bed of seasonal veggies with a creamy pesto sauce.  We also split mac n cheese and charred brussels sprouts.  Finally, because I'm always up for dessert, we had a chocolate pecan torte with vanilla ice cream.  Needless to say, I was absolutely stuffed by the time we waddled out of there.

Once we got home, I opened my present from my hubby-to-be.  He got me a fabulous Kate Spade purse that I L-O-V-E.  It was a total surprise, and he picked it out all by himself (He says that he found the one he wanted and then asked a couple of "experts" if they liked it.  Once he had their stamps of approval, he pulled the trigger). That boy never fails to surprise me.

My parents came in town for my birthday weekend, and we did plenty of cold weather activities.  We stayed in on Friday and I cooked dinner.  We also watched the opening ceremony of the Olympics.  We woke up the next day, had breakfast, got ready, and then went over to the Dallas World Aquarium with the whole crew, even Fox!    

Sherbo, Fox, me, Jimbo

The "aquarium" is actually more like a rain forrest with an aquarium at the bottom level.  You start at the "canopy" and then work your way down.  The whole time you are walking you see all kinds of crazy animals.

My favorite things were the penguins (even if they smelled a little fishy) and the adorable giant otter.  I couldn't get a picture of the otter because he was too quick, but he was the just the cutest thing.

The shark tank was also pretty cool, but it was a little eerie to have those things swimming right over your head...

We had dinner on Saturday at one of my favorite spots, Cane Rosso.  They serve authentic Neapolitan pizza, and it is just scrumptious.  

I always feel so loved on my birthday, and this year was no exception.  Thanks to everyone who made #25 a birthday to remember!  I love y'all!

super bowl sunday!

Well, Sunday was the big day!  Did y'all watch?? 

The actual Super Bowl was pretty underwhelming, but we still had a good time.  Austin and I hosted a small get together at our apartment which is always fun for me.  I love playing hostess!

We had a big table that was filled with food thanks to all of our guests!  We had snacks before, during, and after dinner, but the main course was pizza and wings (it's the Super Bowl...it'd be unAmerican to have anything else).

I made dips and desserts.  Guacamole is one of my go-tos when it's party time, and I always just play the recipe by ear.  On Sunday I mashed up 6 avocados, the juice of 3 limes, about 1/3 of a bunch of cilantro, and plenty of salt and pepper.  I also tried a new dip: a copycat of Chuy's creamy jalapeño ranch.  I used this recipe, and it turned out pretty close to the original!  For desserts I stuck to some classic chocolate chippers and one of Austin's favorites, chubby hubby truffles.  Those are always a hit. 

One thing that made the game a little more interesting was our square bet!  We all got 11 squares, and there was a winner each quarter based on the score.  Our friend Ashley won for quarters 1-3, and our other friend Shannon took home the big prize for the final score!  All of the boys were mad that the girls won it all, and they kept blaming that safety thing on the result.  Whatevaaaa...girls are always right.  They should know that by now.

I hope everyone had a good game day!  I'm off to facilitate STAAR Simulation Tests, so I know you're all jealous.  Happy Tuesday!