Blog Challenge Day 8: 5 Current Goals

1. Get healthy and fit this summer.
I have numerous diet cookbooks that have been started, but never finished.  I also have a gym membership I rarely use.  I want to make a habit of eating healthy and working out this summer, when I have time to do it, so that when I go back to the grind in the fall, it's part of my daily routine.

2.  Fall in love with my job.
I love my job, but I'm not IN love with my job.  I don't necessarily know what aspects need to change in order for this to happen, but I'm willing to get creative and try new things in order to figure it out!

3. Go on a vacation.
I want to go somewhere I've never been.  Like New York or Greece.  I want to figure out how to work my budget in order for this to be possible.  I just want to travel somewhere and get away from life for awhile.

4.  Make time for me.
I want to scrapbook.  I want to read.  I want to blog.  I need to set time apart in order to do these things, so that I can still get enough sleep (because we all know how much I need it!) and am not so overwhelmed that by the time I get around to doing something for myself, I'm completely unmotivated to do anything!

5.  Enhance my spiritual life.
I have a fabulous church which I love and am involved in.  However, I need to remember to work on my spiritual journey everyday and not just on Sundays.  I want to make daily meditation and prayer time a habit, and fully reconnect with God.

Blog Challenge Day 7: Your 5 Favorite Songs

I LOVE music!  And my musical taste is about as vast as Mariah Carey's vocal range!I tried REALLY hard to narrow my favorite songs down to five today.  But every time I thought a song should be put on the list, it brought several others to mind...and I just couldn't do it!  So, in order to accommodate a decent sampling of the songs I thought of today, I am going to categorize like Wendy did...

Country:

5. "One Boy, One Girl" - Collin Raye
4.  "Can I Trust You With My Heart?" - Travis Tritt
3. "Somebody's Hero" - Jamie O'Neal
2. "I'll Be" - Reba.  She's my idol...he could have her own top 5!
1.  "Wanted" - Hunter Hayes.  He's precious, he can sing, and his concert was Jerrod and my first date.

Broadway: (by far the HARDEST category to just pick 5...)

5. "Defying Gravity" - Wicked
4. "A Little Fall of Rain" - Les Mis
3. "Seasons of Love" - Rent
2. "Someone Like You" - Jekyll and Hyde
1. "Someone Else's Story" - Chess

Disney: (also extremely hard to narrow down...)

5. "Something There" - Beauty and the Beast
4. "Let It Go" - Frozen.  I want to be Idina Menzel.  Seriously.
3. "You'll Be In My Heart" - Tarzan.  Phil Collins + Disney = a match made in heaven!
2. "Reflection" - Mulan.  Quite possibly my favorite Disney heroine.
1. "Baby Mine" - Dumbo.  That song has been special to me and my mom for as long as I can remember, and thanks to the fabulous Allison Krause, it became special to me and my daddy on my wedding day.

Rock:

5. "Every Rose Has It's Thorn" - Poison
4. "Fix You" - Coldplay
3. "Africa" - Toto
2. "Ants Marching" - Dave Matthews Band
1.  "Strawberry Fields Forever" - The Beatles

Significant Songs: (aka songs I love more for the person or thing it reminds me of when I hear it...)

5. "Magic" - Jeff Wood.  Because he is an amazing artist and I miss sitting out listening to him on a gorgeous afternoon.  And because it has kinda become my Wendy theme song.
4. "Heal the World" - MJ.  My mom made an amazing slide tribute to our trip to the Romanian orphanage with this song.
3. "Pray for Me" - Michael W Smith.  My song for Lynette.  I still can't get through it with dry eyes.
2. "That Was A River" - Collin Raye.  My AOPi "Oceans'" theme song
1.  "The Reason" - Hoobastank.  LJ's theme song

Wow.  That was way more difficult than I thought!  And I named 25 instead of 5!  And there's still so many more I want to include!  Ugh.

Blog Challenge Day 6: What are you afraid of?

Top Ten...in no particular order:

Wolves.
When I was little, I used to have nightmares about being chased by wolves.  Why?  I have no idea.  But it was a recurring nightmare that I always believed might come true...despite the fact that there were no wolves in the city of Dallas that I was aware of.

Clowns.
I don't know what it is, but I can't stand them...they creep me out.  Jerrod and I went to a comedy show awhile back, and there was a guy dressed as a clown who sang.  Terrified me to no end.

Being alone.
Not in the "I need someone in my life or its not complete" sense, but rather the "without another human being's presence" sense.  When I babysat in high school, I used to have panic attacks once the kids went to bed until their parents came home, and had to be as far away from windows as possible.  I can live on my own now just fine, because I'm in an apartment complex...but if I had a house to myself, I would freak.

Scary Movies/TV Shows.
I can't watch them.  At all.  They give me nightmares for weeks.  I tried to go see "What Lies Beneath" in a theatre once, and left ten minutes into the movie.  Couldn't do it.

Failure.
I'm afraid of letting others down.  And myself down.  And not completing a task up to standards.

Heights.
Which is shocking, because my dad had a plane and I've flown since I was a baby.  I just cope with the fear by sleeping the ENTIRE trip.  And, I will ride roller coasters...but I still get a knot in my stomach every time I get on one.

Elevators.
Goes hand in hand with my fear of heights.  If given the option, I will take the stairs.  I don't care how many there are.  Especially glass ones.

Crowds.
Yep, I am claustrophobic.  I need room to move as I please, and always have an escape route when there are lots of people around me.

Spiders.
I hate them.  And pretty much any other creepy crawly thing.  And snakes.  I got bit by a spider once.  Found it, killed it, and took it with me to the urgent care clinic, so they could look it up and see what kind of spider bite they were dealing with.  It got worse before it got better, and I had half a dozen sharpie lines drawn on my leg like an elevation map or something.

Public speaking.
I'm a teacher, so you would think I should be comfortable speaking in front of others.  Wrong.  I am comfortable speaking in front of children, but when you put me in front of my peers, I completely clam up.  I'm the same way when it comes to singing in front of others, which is also strange, due to my love of karaoke.  But I turn into a big nervous wreck, and shake pretty much the entire song.

Blog Challenge Day 5: Your Proudest Moment

Geez.  This is a tough one.  I've been sitting, staring at the blinking cursor on my screen for awhile now, and still don't know what to write about...

Being an only child, the baby granddaughter on one side, and the baby grandchild on the other, I have had quite the opportunity to be a spoiled brat.  Growing up, I'm sure the spoiled side came across frequently, although I don't think I made it to the brat mark all to often.  I think, though, in my adult years, I have become an extremely giving person, and am pretty much willing to do anything for anybody within reason.  I have made numerous sacrifices for my students and my family (mostly) without complaining.  I want those around me to be happy and successful, and have a hard time saying no to a task without a good reason.

Sometimes, I even have a hard time saying no when I have a good reason...me!  I have a fear of failure and disappointment, and don't want to let others down...even when it is truly in my best interest to change my situation or circumstances.

This leads me to what I'm proud of about myself.  It wasn't one exact moment or situation...it was several.  My life was going downhill fast.  I was miserable.  Certain aspects of my life had become toxic to my health and happiness.  So, for the first time in my life, I did what was best for me.  I didn't care about how other people might react, or that I would be judged by those who didn't truly understand my situation or intentions.  I walked away.  From an unhappy marriage.  From an unhealthy lifestyle.  From people who were bringing me down instead of building me up.  

Because of that, I have begun to discover who I am.  I have surrounded myself with loved ones who truly make me a better person.  I can say honestly I am proud of who I am and who I am still becoming.  

Blog Challenge Day 4: Your Dream Job

When I was little, I thought I wanted to be a marine biologist.  Then, I decided I wanted to follow in my mom's footsteps and be a teacher.  I even played school with my stuffed animals as students with the leftover materials she would bring home in the summer.

When I went off to college, I still knew I wanted to teach.  There was a brief moment after my best friend passed when I thought I should honor her memory by living out her dream of nursing.  That quickly passed when a broken bone in the pediatrics office I was interning at caused me to pass out.  So, back to teaching it was...

Now, I'm having a mini midlife crisis.  I'm not really sure if I want to stay in the teaching profession. But, I have no clue what I want to be when I grow up!  Well, that's not entirely true.  If I'm being completely honest, my dream job is to be a stay-at-home mom.  I want to be able to watch my children reach every milestone and be there for me if and when they need me to, without having to worry about missing work for it.  But, I'm not married and don't have children...so that one will have to wait awhile.

And although I know that being a mom is incredibly hard work, I think the intention of "dream job" here was more along the lines of a career path...  And I am stumped.  When I think about what I would do if money were no object, things like Broadway singer, personal shopper, food blogger, sports writer, bookshop owner, flight attendant, and chef cross my mind...but even still, I can't decide which path I would choose if I had the means and opportunity.

But no matter what career path my dreams take me down, the one thing that keeps reoccurring is motherhood.  So, I guess what it all boils down to is that my dream job is to be a mom.  Maybe someday I will be lucky enough for my dreams to come true.

Blog Challenge Day 3: Your Favorite Quote

For those of us who don't speak French, this reads, "It is only with the heart that one can see rightly.  What is essential is invisible to the eye."

The Little Prince has been my favorite book for as long as I can remember.  In this story, he lives alone on a tiny planet no larger than a house.  He owns a flower, unlike any other flower in the galaxy, of great beauty and of inordinate pride.  Although the flower was of utmost importance to the Little Prince, it was the pride that ruined the serenity of his world and sent him on a series of travels, that finally brought him to Earth, where he meets a fox.  This fox shares with him the secret of what is really important in this life, as you read above.

I have read this story numerous times in English, and have attempted it a time or two in French.  No matter how many times I read it, the message is just as powerful as ever: what is important cannot be seen, but rather must be felt.  I could write a lengthy, philosophical post on the meaning of this quote, but after a day of state testing, my brain is mush.  So, I will let you take from it what you choose...

Blog Challenge Day 2: 20 Facts About Me

1.  Although most people don't believe it, I am adopted.  I also consider the people who raised me my REAL mother and father and refer to my birth parents as my egg and sperm donor.

2.  I hate strawberries.  So much so that I used to tell people I was allergic so that I wouldn't have to explain why I refused to touch them.

3.  I have been to more foreign countries than US states.  I worked at an orphanage in Romania, rang in Y2K at a castle in Austria, and student taught in New Zeland to name a few...

4.  I LOVE to sing.  My biggest musical regret is that no one recorded my senior broadway recital...I had never sung that well before, nor have I since.

5.  I am overly committed to my students.  Most take up permanent residency in my heart, and I will show them my love and support in whatever way I possibly can...even when they have left my classroom.

6.  I am addicted to cheese.  A friend and I once easily polished off a 5 lb block of cheddar cheese in college just because her dad didn't think we could.

7. I have a horrible memory, yet can remember EXACTLY what I was doing the day I received the call that my best friend had passed away. I still miss her...

8.  I hate feet.  I don't like them touching me and I won't touch yours.  You know you're a very special person (or a pedicurist) if I don't cringe if you touch mine.

9.  I love to cook, and have quite the collection of cookbooks.  I also have several "diet" cookbooks, but I've never actually made it the length said diets were supposed to last...

10.  I don't do scary movies...or clowns...and especially not scary movies involving clowns.

11.  In our house, Christmas presents come wrapped in brown paper with pretty bows.  You also open gifts one at a time, in order, and watch what everyone else receives.

12.  I modeled as a child...briefly.  I spent my paycheck on a teddy bear that I still sleep with to this day.

13.  My close group of girlfriends is referred to as "The Coven."  It is apparently my job to plan events and keep everyone's calendars updated...and I am all too happy to do so!

14. I once wore my mom's Looney Tunes jacket while she was out of town.  I wasn't allowed to.  I put it back EXACTLY the way I found it, but she still knew.  She claims no one told her, and to this day won't let me know how she knew...

15.  I am absolutely 100% a "Daddy's Girl."  I could get him to say yes after mom said no almost every time.  Mom was the disciplinarian, but there was no punishment worse than my father uttering the statement "I'm disappointed in you."

16. I love to read...mostly young adult novels or what I refer to as "beach reads."  However, I never finished Twilight or Harry Potter.

17.  I have never broken a bone, but have had more stitches than I can count.

18.  I have OCD tendencies.  For example, my closet is organized by season, type of garment, color, and pattern.

19.  I played sports when I was very little, but was not athletic in junior high or high school.  But I watch them like crazy! Especially the Texas Longhorns, Auburn Tigers, and Chicago Cubs.  I don't do basketball though...the screeching noise of shoe on court is like nails to a chalkboard!

20. Purple has always been my favorite color.  I had the cutest Osh-Kosh purple overalls when I was a baby.  In fact, I'm pretty sure it was the first color I said.  And I said it correctly...unlike "lellow"...

Blog Challenge Day 1: Your Blog Title

I have two very dear friends whom I introduced to blogging, and they have taken the ball and run with it.  I'm so glad somebody picked the ball up, since I have clearly dropped it!  I found a 30 day blog challenge online and decided they needed to take part.  Then, I decided that I, too, would take the challenge to try to get back into blogging.  I absolutely love doing it, I just don't seem to be able to find the time for it lately.  So, here goes...

I enjoy coming up with cute and clever ways to say things (for example, I came up with the name for both of the forementioned blogs).  I guess that's the former English teacher and aspiring writer in me. So, when I started to think about the things near and dear to me that I might talk about, I noticed that I could tie them together with alliteration.  Winning!  And then I needed a tag line to connect them all together...duh! Math problem!  I love math...perfect!  So, thus a title was born.  I do think I have a pretty fabulous life, mainly because of the friends and family that are a part of it!

And, my overly ambitious self planned on all blog posts having a title beginning with "f" as well...but for at least the next 30 days, I'm not THAT creative!