Mashed Potatoes are my Friend!

Whew!

What a whirlwind week this has been!  On Tuesday after lunch, I suddenly felt a terrible pain in the center of my stomach.  I couldn’t teach standing up…I had to sit down and lean over.  I was miserable and couldn’t figure out what was wrong with me.  Thankfully, my wonderful 1st grade teammates took my students out to recess for me so that I could have a few minutes.  I went down to the nurse’s office at school and laid down with the other sicky kiddos!  Talk about feeling silly!  The kids got a kick out of it though!

I was able to get an appointment with my doctor later that evening.  They ran some tests and pushed on my belly but couldn’t really figure out what it could be.  He said,  “Go to the E.R. and they can do a sonogram on your belly.”  Well, I FREAKED out!  I do not do well at the doctor, pass out at the sight of a needle, and I was not prepared to be told that!

Thankfully, Ben was with me and the pain had went from a level 8 to a level 3.  I decided to eat some dinner and try to sleep and see how I felt in the morning.  I would be able to go to my regular doctor for an ultrasound the next day when they were open.  Well, all night my stomach was in pain, the only relief I felt was when I was laying in the bathtub.

I woke up at 5am and took another warm bath and then decided to take myself to the E.R.  I couldn’t wait anymore to find out what was wrong with me…  I called for a sub at work and drove myself to the hospital.  Thankfully, it’s right across the street from my new house (very convenient!)  Ben was booked at work all day, so I was going to have to be a BIG GIRL and do it all by myself!

So, after waiting 6 hours, having blood tests, an ultra sound, and a CT scan, they discovered I had appendicitis!  I would need to have my appendix out as soon as possible.  Talk about an overwhelming feeling!  I dressed in my lovely gown and was quickly moved through the process for surgery. 

About an hour later, I was surrounded by family and friends!  I was in a lot of pain and very sleepy.  I am so thankful to everyone who came to visit me to feed me ice chips and to all of the wonderful nurses and doctors.  They took such great care of me!  And to top off the day, mom flew in the same evening of my surgery to come and take care of me!  She is amazing. 

So today is my first full day at home, I am eating a liquid diet but can slowly start eating solids on my own as I feel stronger.  My pain is getting less and less painful thanks to the Percocet!  I have taken the rest of the week off of work and am hoping to get back to my regular routine on Monday. 

I would hope that no one would have to go through the pain that I went through and I am very lucky that I was able to have surgery before things got worse!  Hoping for a speedy recovery and eating LOTS of mashed potatoes!

If I Lived In A Snow Globe…

My 1st grade students are working on their “snowglobe” stories this week in writer’s workshop.  This is a winter writing piece.  They are turning out super cute!  I found my inspiration on Pinterest of course!

Tomorrow we are doing our final editing and then we will construct our snowglobes out of construction paper and lots of glitter!  Here is the picture that inspired me…stay tuned for our finished product!

Top Ten Winter Break.

My winter break is officially going to end at 5:15 tomorrow morning 😦  Boo.

Here are my TOP TEN favorite parts about my Winter Break.

10.  I am pretty darn good at Angry Birds.

9.  I made my very first Pinterest recipe and baked many more delicous treats with Mom and Samantha.

8.  I switched over from the Blackberry world to the iphone world!!!  My new phone should come in the mail this week.

7.  I was able to play on Pinterest until the wee hours of the night…I think I got my fix for awhile!

6.  Going to NEW YORK CITY was amazing (like always).  But this time the weather was so warm!  We walked around for days and discovered new favorite spots!

5.  Ben and I walked across the Brooklyn Bridge, had lunch in Brooklyn, and then walked back again!  (A highlight of this NYC trip)

4.  I feel even more confident with my subway navigating skills.

3.  I was able to spend quality time with my whole family under the same roof…it was great!

2.  I -hardly- thought about school or my students for a change!!!

1.  I’m excited for a FRESH New Year!  New adventures, experiences, surprises, and challenges are ahead!

Country Running.

Sad that I will be leaving New Jersey tomorrow.  Samantha and I will head back to Arizona, where I’m ready for warmer weather, but not ready to go to a place where my parents aren’t.

It’s been a wonderful two weeks of vacation here…no work, sleeping in, shopping, touring NYC, and fun times with family!  It’s hard to think that reality is coming back so soon.

I will head out for one more country run tomorrow morning.  I have continued training as best I could with running on hilly roads in much cooler temperatures to prepare for my half marathon in two weeks!

Getting excited but nervous for it!

Here are some of the sights that I see along my runs here in my parents’ neighborhood.  Much different from those in Arizona!

New Jersey “Home”

I’m Going To Disneyland!!!!!!

We had an AMAZING time in New York City!

Ben and I ate at some of our favorite places and found some new favorites too!

We walked for days and loved every minute…even walked across the Brooklyn Bridge!

AND THE BEST PART was Ben surprising me with a SUPER EXCITING Christmas gift!

He’s taking me to DISNEYLAND!!!!!!!

I have wanted to go since well, forever!  And he knows it’s been on my bucket list of vacation spots to go to together!

SO SO SO excited!  We are planning to go in February over President’s Day weekend when I have an extra day off at work…CAN’T WAIT!

More NYC pics to come!

Merry Christmas to You!

Oh Happy Christmas Day!

What a perfect and relaxing day!  I have stayed in my PJ’s ALL day and don’t plan on getting dressed! HA.

Spent a great morning with family opening gifts, eating, and watching TV together.

Here is a pic of Me, Tyler, and Samantha after opening gifts this morning.

xo.

Lip Glossy!

Just added another to my fav C.O. Bigelow collection!

Today I purchased Lemon and Pomegranate…yummm!

Bath and Body Works has these on sale for $3!!!  They are normally $7.50 each.  What a steal!

I also love the Mentha ones!  They are glossy AND freshen your breath.

What’s your go-to gloss???

Pinterest Baking!

I’m enjoying my 2 week vacation off of school and found that I have been pinning my days away!

Check out this amazing recipe that I found on Pinterest!  I give credit to Chef In Training.  I followed her recipe exactly and they turned out great!

CAKE BATTER TRUFFLES

• ½ cup unsalted butter, softened
• ½ cup white sugar
• 1 ½ cups flour
• 1 cup yellow cake mix
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 3-4 Tablespoons milk
• 2 Tablespoons sprinkles

Truffle Coating:

• 16 ounces (8 squares) almond bark (or white candy melts)
• 4 Tablespoons yellow cake mix
• sprinkles

Beat together butter and sugar using an electric mixer until combined. Blend in vanilla.  Add cake mix, flour, salt, and vanilla and mix thoroughly. Add 3 Tablespoons of milk or more if needed to make a dough consistency.

Mix in sprinkles by hand. Roll dough into one inch balls and place on a parchment or wax paper lined cookie sheet.

Chill balls in the fridge for 15 min to firm up.  While dough balls are chilling, melt almond bark in the microwave in 30 second intervals until melted. Stir between intervals. Once melted, quickly stir in cake mix until incorporated completely. Using a fork, dip truffles into almond bark and shake of excess bark by tapping the bottom of the fork on the side of your bowl. Place truffle back on the cookie sheet and top with sprinkles. Repeat with remaining balls until finished. {Note: for smoother looking truffles, don’t add cake mix to melted chocolate, just leave it by itself}

Chill cake batter truffles in the refrigerator until serving. Makes around 24-30 truffles.

P.S. *The hardest part is dipping these in the melted almond bark!  I used a fork, chocolate dipping tools, and even skewers!  Still haven’t found a way that works right!

Now off to search for a new recipe to try in Mom’s kitchen!

More Little Things.

Love this website!  I did post about it before, but I visit it frequently to remind myself of how important these little things are!  Here are some of my favorites that perfectly apply to this week that I’ve been spending in New Jersey with my family…

Egg Hunt!

It has certainly been a reminder of how different things are here in NJ.

After a long morning of groceryshopping with mom, I was all ready to help her begin cooking our turkey dinner… or so I thought. Looking at one of the recipes I quickly realized we had no eggs and I needed two! My mom simply looked at me and said, “Well you are going to have to go see if the girls laid any for you.” I burst out laughing until I realized she was dead serious! Who would have though our suburb born family would come to this! Literally getting our eggs straight from a hen?! I bundled up and headed out to the coop. To my surprise the girls left me exactly what I needed.

For a moment I caught myself feeling angry that I didn’t remember to buy exactly what we needed. (The lines at the stores are insane right now!) But walking outside and getting exactly what I need was an awesome reminder that God always provides and has quite the sense of humor! Don’t let the stress of the holidays make you look past the little blessings that are always right under your nose!  Happy Holidays!