12 in '12 Linky Party

Hadar from Miss Kindergarten and Kristin from A Teeny Tiny Teacher hosted a linky last year called 11 in '11. This year, they've decided to host a 12 in '12 linky! I decided it would be a good time to reflect on some fun things that happened in 2012, as 2013 is only 22 days away. WHAT. Yep, I said it. Anyways, on to the 12 in '12!

12. Favorite movie you watched:
I'd have to sayyy... Hunger Games or Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part II. These movies BLEW. ME. AWAY. I absolutely loved them!

 

11. Favorite TV series:
I have sooo many favorite shows but a NEW show to me was Walking Dead. I know, I know, I hadn't seen it before this year and now I'm totally caught up - love me some Glenn & Daryl!

  

10. Favorite restaurant:
I only tried three new restaurants this year... promise I'll try more next year... but I have to say that Pit to Plate was my favorite. AMAZING barbecue and awesome cornbread!

9. Favorite new thing you tried:
Blogging. Hands down. I have met some of the most amazing people throughout this journey and I couldn't be happier.

8. Favorite gift you got:
Well, my momma gave me a wooden desk before I moved. I have been in search of a wooden desk for FOREVER. It's going to be the star student desk in my classroom once I get one! It looks kind of like the one below, but mine is BRIGHT red and shiny.

7. Favorite thing you pinned:
Ohhh.. gee, this is a tough one. I'm addicted to Pinterest so I have SOOO many pins, but I'm going to go ahead and say this one is my favorite..

{SOURCE}

How does that NOT make you giggle and smile?!

6. Favorite blog post:
Ah gee, another hard one... I'm going to have to sayy... this post about graduation. You'll see why on number 5 :)

5. Best accomplishment:
My BEST accomplishment in 2012 was graduating from college. I could not be happier, nor prouder, of myself and all that I have done in my 22 years of life. I was so involved in college and had an amazing time, earned an amazing education, and have started my "true life" in this world. I am so happy to be able to say that I am a college graduate and I would not have wanted it any other way. PS. I graduated in education - heck yes! :)

4. Favorite picture:
I'm in love with boyfriend. Everyone should know that by now... but he took me to Busch Gardens and I captured this photo of him when we were on the safari ride. The color has been changed (filter), but I love how serious he looks even though he was truly enjoying himself!

3. Favorite memory:
Bahamas with my mother for my graduation present. I wasn't in the best mood the entire time and was somewhat crabby, but I absolutely loved it and am so happy I got to spend time with my momma before we moved away. It was a blast and I couldn't have asked for a better graduation present - spending time with momma :)

2. Goal for 2013:
Get a job. I've graduated, moved, and now I'm settled in. Time to get a job. Another goal is to get into shape. I have NEVER truly ran in my life, worked out in my life, or anything of that nature. It's about time I get into the shape I want to be instead of lazying it up on the couch!

1. One Little Word:
Happy. For 2013, my focus will be on the word "happy." Whether it be making myself happy or making others happy or anything, HAPPY is my focus word.

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What about your 12s?! Go link up!

Have a good night, y'all :)

FREEBIE & Giving is Receiving - Christmas Magic

Hello alll! I know, I know, it's been FOREVER since I've really, truly written a post with content. It's very difficult to have a teaching blog when I'm not truly teaching! LOL


First, I want to talk to you all about something serious, something that's near and dear to my heart. My fantastic friend Laura, from Love to Teach :), is sponsoring a family this Christmas to go shopping for. This family is going through a very rough time. The mother is a single mother that has been diagnosed with breast cancer and has a 16 year old son. Her son, Walter, has Autism. Even though he's 16, he has the mental capacity of a 6 year old. This means that he enjoys and LOOOOOVE toys like any other child would. The family does receive food stamps, as she's a single mother, but this is NOT enough to feed the growing boy ;) I mean, what 16 year old doesn't like to eat?? Boyfriend who is 22 could eat all day if he wanted to!

Anyways, Laura is accepting any and all donations to give this family the most amazing Christmas they've ever had. She would like to put things under the tree for not only Walter, but for Cathy (the mother) as well. What a better way to do something for others this holiday season than to donate to this family that is in need of support and love?

If you have any other questions, please click the picture below to be taken to Laura's blog post about this family. If you know that you ABSOLUTELY want to give to this family, follow the directions on the picture below (paypal). Laura is one of the sweetest girls I know and I absolutely LOVE that she is willing to help others by putting them before herself. I could not ask for a better role model in the teaching world, as she's an amazing person and is doing an amazing thing by helping others this holiday season!

Next, I made a freebie (one that was intended for sell) but I loved it so much that I wanted to make it a freebie! So, it's called Contraction Concentration. Students simply play this game like they would concentration. There are 3 different sets of cards. Each set is labeled with a 1, 2, or 3 in the upper left hand corner to keep them straight (see below for what I mean). As for the cards, there are cards with contractions and cards with their spelled out matches. For example, one card says "they're" while another (the match) says "they are."

  

To play, lay out ALL cards (total of 72, 24 per set) or even just ONE (24 cards) or TWO (48 cards) sets. This is totally up to you as the teacher what you would like for students to do. These cards should be laid out upside down, as it's a matching memory game! This is where your choice of how many sets to use is up to you because 72 cards may be TOO many to remember for younger kiddos or just perfect for older kiddos. Your choice!

Then, students begin making matches based upon the words. If a student makes a match, they get to go again. If not, the next student gets to go. This repeats until all cards have been matched. The student with the most matches at the end, wins!

If you would like to download the Contraction Concentration, please click the picture below to be taken to my TPT Store. I'd LOVE to have your feedback - even if it's just a thanks! This lets me know that you all appreciate and value my work AND could use this in your classroom with your fantastic students - all things I would LOVE to hear!

I totally promise to be back soon with more teacher-related things once we're COMPLETELY settled down. We're officially moved in to our new house and loving every minute of it. There's things everywhere, but we could not be happier. Once the house is decorated and put together, I'll put up pictures of it for everyone to see.

For now, here's the outside of it and our Christmas decorations we've got up in the house :)

  

Have a good day, y'all!

December Currently

(This is the button Farley created!)

December's currently is up at Farley's blog, Oh Boy 4th Grade! You should join, too. They're a lot of fun & you get to meet a lot of new people and see what is CURRENTLY going on in their lives!

December is my favorite month. I love the decorations, the feelings it brings (kindness & joy), and the holidays, of course. Spending time with family and friends is an absolute must and I would not want it any other way. Beyond that, I think it's a great month for RAK events. Whether you're doing it because you feel like giving back or because you just thought someone might appreciate it, I think RAKs are really cool.

My RAK is to go out to eat and pay for another couple's meal, no matter what they ordered. I'd preferably like it to be an older couple, but a couple would be perfect for me. I think the fact that couples still go out and hang out and have a bite to eat is comforting and adorable and I just love it. Therefore, I'd love to pay for their meal.

What are you CURRENTLY doing?! Link up with Farley & let us know :)

On another note, I'll be back to blogging for REAL soon. Just trying to get things situated on the home front with our moving & everything :)

Have a good day, y'all.

Ornament Swap Reveal

So, I participated in an ornament swap hosted by Rachel from Life as Mrs. and Christina from My Life, Laughs, & Loves.

I got paired up with the fantastic Esther from Esther Norine Designs. She one SWEET woman and is very caring. She's also absolutely gorgeous! I requested something that dealt with the fact that Cody and I are having our first Christmas together for real or something red because I like red. Well, Esther did AMAZING at choosing something out!!

She got me a new home ornament that's red!! How perfect is that?? I cannot wait to put it on our brand new tree in our brand new house. It's going to look so beautiful!

But not only did she get me an ornament, she also knitted a scarf for me! I love the colors and I actually wore it for the first time the other night out in the cold. It's beautiful and warm and just perfect.

Esther, you did an AMAZING job at picking out an ornament for me. The scarf was an added bonus! Thank you so, so much for everything and I am so happy I was paired up with you. You're an amazing woman and I cannot thank you enough!

Have a good day, y'all!

TPT Cyber Monday & Tuesday Sale!

{Button by Ashley from The School Supply Addict}

Whaaaaaat?! You have NOT heard of the ginormous sale at TPT that's happening tomorrow and Tuesday?! Oh good golly, Molly!

Make sure your carts are filled to the brim as you'll get up to 28% off of your entire purchase with the code by TPT and sales by sellers. WHAT?! Now that's a savings! There are some amazing products out there and I cannot wait to get my cart bought.

Since I'm including myself in on this sale, make sure you check out the NEW products I'll be adding to the store the next few days. I don't have much (moving is taking a huuuuge chunk out of my life right now), but I've got a few things I'll be adding!

Make sure you enter CMT12 at the end to receive your additional 10% off from TPT - you'll get 20% from myself already - Monday, November 26th and Tuesday, November 27th! Sale starts at midnight!

HAPPY SHOPPING!!

5 for Five - {Week 6}

Welcome to week 6 of the 5 for Five link up with Jenn & Jessica! I am SO proud of myself - I completed ALL. FIVE. GOALS. How amazing is that!!!

My goals for last week were:

1. Finish all work for one of my classes. This was done early in the week. I had to get it all done before the move, otherwise I wouldn't have done it!

2. Finish packing for our move next (this) Wednesday. Okay, okay. 95% done packing. BUT, still did it!!

3. Finish my inquiry lesson plan. This was 6 hours of my time, but it's finished!

4. Complete my resource Wikispace for a class. This was close to 20 hours of my time, but again, it's finished!!

5. Make my advent calendar and mail it out. LOVE how it turned out. You'll have to stay tuned to see how it turned out if Sue blogs about it :)

ALL. FIVE. GOALS! Perfect! This week's goals are a bit more simple, but still goals.

1. Pack the truck all the way full. This is going to take FOREVER, but we'll get it done!

2. Read a book all the way through. I'm going to have nothing to do this week besides create TPT products, so I'm going to read through one of my Kindle books.

3. Bake/cook for Thanksgiving with Simone. Our friends are hosting Thanksgiving at their house because none of us are going home, so I'm going to help her and actually make something, I hope!

4. Find a house or apartment. We're moving. I want a place to live. Enough said!

5. Create 3 resources for TeachersPayTeachers. I reaaaally have been slacking on creating products for TPT, so I need to get on this.

What are YOUR goals this week??

Have a good day, y'all!