2010 in review

2010 was a great year! Eric and I began the year with an obession with the new Super Mario Bros for Wii. We played that thing nonstop almost until we beat it. On the second day of the year my big sister got engaged which gave everyone something to look forward to later on in the year.

I began this blog in April setting a goal to post once a week. Seems like a reached that goal except for in the months of September and October. Pretty impressive since I never had anything too exciting to talk about :) Eric and I hit two years of marriage at the end of April! Yay! In May, my third graders won the tug-a-war competition at Field Day which was the most awesome accomplishment for them ending my 2nd year of teaching!

At the beginning of the summer, it was time for Paula and JP's pharmacy school graduation festivities. Fun times, as my sister was the valdictorian! In June and July, I spent a lot of my time at the salon which was not as much fun as the past, but I made some money! Made me even more ready for the school year to begin :)

Beginning of August of course started with my b-day. I turned 25! The day after, work began again showing me how much I just love my job and the people I work with :) I was blessed this year with a pretty cool group of kiddos. Labor Day weekend rolled around pretty fast, and it was time for the Barefoot On The Beach Wedding! The wedding was very pretty and everyone had a blast on their mini-vacation get-a-way.

October began with me taking a pregnancy test, seeing it was positive, and being in disbelief! Eric and I had only been trying for a little over a month. After the initial shock and excitement wore off, we were able to share the news with our family. Something (someone) very exciting to spend the seconf half of 2011 with :)

Thanksgiving and Christmas rolled around faster than ever. The holidays were busy and fun as usual. Plus, I had an excuse to eat more :) Tonight is New Year's Eve, Eric and I will be spending it at Paula and JP's house playing games and eating snack foods ending 2010!

Christmas Festivities!

Christmas this year was both busy and fun! Christmas Eve, JoJo and I headed to my parent's house for me to make cookies and him to play with Lacie. Lacie and JoJo had a blast playing with each other for two and a half hours while we decorated cookies. Later on that day, we all headed to Hope for the Christmas Eve service which was very entertaining. I always love the music. There was a cute baby girl sitting in front of Eric and me and we enjoyed watching her throughout the service. Can't wait to meet our baby! After church, it was time for shrimp and other goodies. Dinner was awesome. Then we played Imagine Iff together and headed home to open our Christmas presents. Eric and I spent very little on each other this year since we are paying for all this school and trying to save for the baby. He got me the only item I asked for which was a Snuggie, and I am using it as I type this :) I got him a heating pad, a Titans flag to hang in his office, and a new Mountain Dew shirt. We got JoJo a squirrel house. It is a toy that holds three toy squirrels in the inside. He has to try to get them out. He seems to really like it.

Opening his present!

Trying to figure out what to do with it :)

Christmas morning we headed back to my parent's house for the tradition of breakfast and present opening. For breakfast I had scrambled eggs, one fried egg, one biscuit, one and 1/2 pieces of wheat toast, three pieces of bacon, and grape juice. It was delicious and very filling :) Opening presents is always fun, JoJo seemed to enjoy running back and forth "helping" people unwrap. I got some great gifts. I think my favorite presents from my mom are my boots and my pea coat. They are so cute, especially together! I loved all my gifts, and I think everyone loved the gifts I gave them.

Joey and his new "indestructible" froggie toy

Mama and her favorite Christmas movie of all time

Me and Paula with the gifts I gave her. Glad she liked them!

Daddy with his pillow and shirt I gave him

After my parent's house, we headed to Eric's parents for lunch and presents. We had ham, dressing, deviled eggs, and a couple of casseroles. Of course my favorite part was the cheesecake for dessert :) For presents, we always receive cash which we actually love. This year, the majority of our cash went straight into our "baby jar" where we are saving up money for big baby items like the crib.

Us :)

The Faughts :)

Christmas night a new tradition was started! We headed to Paula and John Paul's house for dinner, presents, and games. We had ham, corn, sweet potato casserole, grape salad, and desserts. I loved the sweet potato casserole and grape salad. They were delicious! Eric and I got tervis tumblers from the "Adams." Eric is super excited about his Memphis tumbler since he has been borrowing my ladybug cup since August. We love our mini Memphis tumblers. They are going to be very useful around the house! I only have one pic from Paula's and that is of me and Em in front of the tree :)

This Christmas was a success and next year will be even more fun when Eric and I get to start new traditions with our child :)

Family Christmas Party

Well, our family Christmas party proved to be a success for the third year in a row! Everyone that came seemed to enjoy themselves. We had a great table full of food and another table full of desserts. Plus, our "famous" taco soup which actually more people ate this year than ever. Eric was proud :) I didn't take pictures at the party, but here are a couple of pics of the food preparation that Eric, Em, and I did!

Taco meat full of onions and peppers

All the yummy colorful veggies

The cookie platter with cookies from my school cookie swap. They were a hit!

Christmas Break!

Woke up to my first day of Christmas Break with a little bit of snow on the ground! That was a surprise! JoJo can't seem to stop staring out the window. He is a curious little fellow. Definitely enjoyed sleeping in this morning. I slept till about 9:30 which is actually pretty late for me. I am usually up in the 8:00 hour on the weekend. My body was exhausted from the last week of school excitement!

For the third year in a row, my Christmas break has begun with Emily coming over to spend the night to help me with the family Christmas party that Eric and I will host tonight. It is fun having my sis over to hang with! We hit up Starbucks on the ride to my house. My first visit to Starbucks since becoming pregnant. The boy working there probably thought I was a little bit crazy. I asked for a Peppermint Mocha Frap, Grande, Low Fat, Decaf, w/whip cream and cinnamon sprinkles on top.

It was my first peppermint drink from Starbucks, and it was pretty good! Can't wait to go back over the holidays and try what Em got. She got a Caramel Brulée Grande Frap (with no crazy changes like me). I got to try a small sip and it was very yummy! Like a creamy caramel :)

My next post will be a recap of the Christmas Party! Happy Saturday!

Milk Cartons, Graham Crackers, Icing, and Candy

At school this week, I had my students make gingerbread houses. The kids saved their milk cartons at lunch for the foundation of their houses. My ever so kind assistant took the time to hot glue graham crackers to the 20 milk cartons. We hot glue the graham crackers so the house will be more sturdy. The kids brought in all the supplies to create the houses. We had plenty of white icing, gum drops, candy canes, peppermints, life savers, M &Ms, Red Hots, Twizzlers, colored Christmas marshmallows, hard Christmas Candy, and mini Hershey bars. We were ready to roll. They had soooo much fun making them, and I really enjoyed helping/watching. Each student was very creative in making their houses that they all turned out so cute! 5 days left until Christmas Break :) More crafts to come!!

Sick Saturday Blues

I barely have a voice b/c of the combination of my cold and my job requiring me to speak all day long. On top of that, my poor Eric got food poisoning and can barely get out of the bed. He ate some food at work last night that a co-worker had given him. Apparently, it had sat out all day causing some kind of bacteria to get on it that was not good for the human body b/c at 3:00 last night it hit him. Poor thing :( Needless to say, our Saturday has been even more lazy than normal.

On a happy note, I went to the doctor yesterday and got to see our sweet baby. In the ultrasound pic, it looks like the baby is sucking on his/her thumb. Everything is developing as normal and the baby is just looking too cute. The ultrasound tech asked if I wanted her to take a guess at what the baby might be so I said sure. She explained to me that the way everything was developing, it looked like a baby girl but not to start buying things yet. Now with the ultrasound tech saying so and the Chinese calendar saying so, we just have to wait and see if they are right :)

Brrrr!

Cold weather has hit Memphis this week! I had to bust out my heavy coat, gloves, and ear muffs for recess, car duty, and of course JoJo's walks. I am not a big fan of cold weather, but I am excited about the holiday season kicking into full gear :)

Today has been a day for of sneezes for me. I can just feel a cold coming on :( Colds always start with sneezes for me. My throat also feels a little scratchy. It was only a matter of time before this group of 3rd graders got me sick :) When we came back from Thanksgiving Break Monday, about 1/4 of my class was coughing and blowing their noses.....guess the baby and I caught it! Hopefully, the cold will not turn out to be too bad of one. Since I am preggo, there are not many medicines that I can take to make me feel better.

On a happy note, I go to the doctor Friday to see my beautiful baby again :) We are even going to attempt to record some of the movements and the heartbeat on a DVD. Yay! I have officially entered my second trimester (13 weeks), which is supposed to be where I feel the best out of the three. I am supposed to gain my energy back and loose any nauseous feelings, and I have to say I am already feeling the boost! my stomach is starting to poke out a little bit more, but it is still not really noticable. The baby is about the size of a peach and he or she can hear things going on around me now. Too cool! Better start reading to him/her soon so that my baby comes out smart :)

What I'm Thankful For

Thanksgiving Break has begun! I figured I would take a moment to talk about what I am thankful for. At 25, I have no complaints or regrets in my life. It has been pretty awesome so far. I have so many great memories from my childhood especially from this time of year at Navarre. All the Thanksgivings at Navarre will forever be my favorite memories. Middle school is when softball began taking over my life, which I loved every minute of. I discovered that I had a semi-good talent for fastpitch pitching, Coach Ty and Mama devoted so much time developing my skills. High school softball ruled my life and I loved every minute of the craziness. Plus, I kind of became obsessed with scooping ice cream at the BR. So obsessed with all that great money I was making, all the people that would come in that got to know me, and of course my co-workers especially those that I remain in touch with today. Entering college at Southwest, I met so many more great girls on the team. We were not the best team by any means, but we sure knew how to have fun when we played and on the road trips. I met Eric at Southwest, he became one of my biggest softball fans, and of course my main squeeze :) Moving on to the U of M my softball career may have ended, but I got more into my career path and loved my education courses. Apparently I loved learning about education so much, that I am still doing it 3 years after completing my bachelor's, I have one master's and I am 3/4 done with my second :)

My list of thankfuls:

-Eric and JoJo: Eric and JoJo are my boys. They are always there for me, they make me laugh, they keep me company, and they love me. What more could a girl ask for :)

- Our Baby: K, well I guess a girl could ask for more considering I have a miracle developing inside me. Eric and I are beyond excited about getting to meet our baby girl or boy. It is amazing how the development of a baby progresses throughout the 9 months. It is all so exciting and scary at the same time. Our lives are going to change dramatically, but definitely for the better.

-My Cerrito Family: The seven members of my family are all unique. No two people have the same personalities or even really the same interests in life which always makes family gatherings interesting and fun. My parents are great, Mama is always busy from one thing to the next (that must be where I get my busy-bodiness from) and Daddy is just Daddy. He hangs out at the house with his best pal Lacie. My sisters are the best! I love spending time with both of them and I am so proud of who they are. My brothers are crazy, but life wouldn't be normal if they weren't. They enjoy life and that is what matters.

-My Grandparents: My grandparents are the most loving and caring people I have ever met. Grandaddy is such a sweetheart always expressing how much he cares about us and memommy is just too cute. She loves to talk, I can tell her just about everything and my favorite word she uses is darling. I love spending time with both of them so on my breaks from teaching I always find the time to have a lunch date with them :) They are both elated with becoming great grandparents which makes me even more excited!

-My Faught Family: Eric's family has taken me in as one of the Faught's ever since we started dating. His family is always joking around which always makes for a good time.

-My job: I could not ask for a better place to work. I love my job so much each and every day. I don't think I would say that if I were at a different school. BES has such a friendly loving environment for the faculty and the kids are pretty awesome too.

-My friends: I love getting to spend time with my friends. The funny thing about my friends is that many of them are 15 or more years older than me or a couple of years younger than me, but that doesn't bother me one bit. Friends are friends no matter what their age!

Baby on the Way :)

I am going to be a mommy and I am so excited about it. Perfect teacher baby with a due date of June 8th :) I will be tenured in January, complete my second master's degree May 3rd, and become a mom in June. Wonderful year coming up! Here are some frequently asked preggo questions:

1. How far along are you? 11 weeks 1 day
2. Have you been sick at all? I have had some nausea, but it has definitely subsided the past week. The main preggo symptom I have had is being extremely tired, but that has also subsided this week. Heading toward the second trimester where my energy level is supposed to increase.
3. Are you going to find out if it is a girl or a boy? Most definitely, can't wait to find out!
4. Are you going to share the gender and the name? Well of course, once we find out the gender we will let everyone know and once we decide on a name for sure we will share that too!
5. Do you know which room will be the nursery? The room right across from ours that my grandmother has called "the baby room" ever since we moved in :)
6. Was this planned? Yes it was planned the best we could around my school year. Worked out great!

Race for Education!

Today, was the 10th Annual Race for Education, and it was held in Bartlett for the first time! The past 9 years, the race has been held in G-Town. The location this year was great for our school b/c more parents and kids were willing to come. I asked my teacher friend Kathy if she would walk with me (b/c of course i would not run 3 miles) and she said she would. So we met up at Bartlett High to catch the shuttle bus (which ended up being a school bus). We got all signed in and ready to go very quickly. The shirt is definitely the best one out of the three that I have. It is white this year and long sleeved. My previous two were green and blue short sleeve shirts....so it is nice to get something different. The logo is very cute too! We walked the entire 3 miles in 1 hour and 2 minutes. Great fun and great exercise!

Relaxation!

Nothing like a weekend of relaxation. After last weekend's fun filled adventures, I entered this weekend with no plans :) It started off great, I went to see MegaMind with one of my teacher friends and some 2nd graders. Definitely would recommend MegaMind. It was a great movie with a great story line. Friday evening I fell asleep on the couch around 8:30 or so. No worries, that is typical of me. Teaching is an exhausting profession and by Friday, I am pooped. So from my mid-evening nap and sleeping in Saturday till around 9:15 felt great. I woke up Saturday with more energy than I have had in a while. I needed that energy in order to complete my last ASU assignment for the week. Lately, I have been procrastinating my work until Saturdays b/c I cannot seem to make myself get it done during the school week. The rest of the day Saturday I spent relaxing in front of the tv, walking my dog, went on a quick grocery run, helped Eric with classes, and then made home-made potato soup with Eric. We were very happy with the results of our trial-batch. Plenty of leftovers to enjoy! Getting geared up for this 4 day work week that I have. We are off Thursday for Veteran's day :)

Happy Halloween

What a fun fall weekend! I spent today carving a pumpkin, eating a great meal at Logan's for my grandfather's 80th birthday, and now passing out candy to the few trick-or-treaters that we have had. After having that whole week off for Fall Break, this weekend seemed to fly right on by. Yesterday, I had a garage sale at my house with my mom and sister. We participated in my neighborhood's first attempt at a neighborhood garage sale. We were very successful, but it sure was cool out there! I left the sale for a little bit to walk in the Race for the Cure in honor of my friend Pam. Pam was diagnosed last year in September, we walked last year just before her surgery, and we walked this year right before her one year mark! It is such a fun race to be a part of. 19,000 people came out to run/walk. People decorate their yards so that when we walk by we have something to look at/talk about. Pic of the group :)

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At Logan's, I got "The Logan" which is one of their signature steaks. As my side items, I picked a baked potato and mac & cheese. Everything was delicious! My mom made cupcakes for GD's birthday so I even topped it off with one of those. Here is a pic of my grandpa and me :)

Here is a pic of my cute jack-o-lantern that I carved earlier today. I picked the easiest pattern out of all the ones that Paula had left. It sure is cute though!

This was the busiest weekend I have had in a while. Looking forward to next weekend b/c I have no plans :)

Fall Break!

Today marks the beginning of my first ever full week of fall break! I love my job as a teacher. The school calendar just knows when us teachers and kids are in need of a break. So many of my teacher friends have fun and exciting trips planned. Some are going to the beach, others are taking their kids to Disney World, and some are going site-seeing in places like Charleston. Me- I am just staying home enjoying the freedom of my days. Going to finish up my last week of assignments for this ASU course which means I will only have 3 courses plus my internship left to go! So excited to be so close to finishing my educational career path :) Going to have dinner with my BR friends Laura and Alison, head to the lake for a day, and have lunch with my grandparents. I am also going to start working on the BES PTA scrapbook that I am in charge of. That should be fun, I enjoy scrapbooking and this will be a book the school gets to keep! Off to enjoy my freedom :)

Fall is in the air!

Fall is in the air! It feels so lovely outside with the cool fall breeze. I had to wear a light jacket on my walk with JoJo today, but by the end I had it wrapped around my waist. I love seeing the leaves start to fall and change colors. Fall is such a pretty time of year! I went to Target this afternoon to buy the best fall candy ever: CANDY CORN!

My excuse was that I needed it for my Open House at school. I really did need it for that though b/c I have a guessing jar where the kiddos guess how much candy corn is inside, and the student that gets the closest wins the candy! I hope I have a good turn out at Open House. It used to be one of my favorite events when I was in elementary school. I just loved showing my parents everything in my room and visiting with my old teachers. Fun times.

Wedding Bliss!

Wow, it sure has been a while since I wrote. Guess I have been busy :)
My big sister's wedding at the beach was such a success. The weather was perfect and the ceremony was beautiful. Everyone seemed to have a good time. Hope Paula and John Paul have many many years of blissful marriage :)

In the swing of things!

It has now been three weeks since the new school year began and my students and I seem to be getting in the swing of things! We are all learning and growing each day, which is what school is all about :) I am a little apprehensive about being absent for two days at the end of this week for Paula's wedding. I don't miss work very often and to miss so early in the school year makes me a little nervous. I am sure everything will be just fine, but the feeling of knowing that my 20 students are at school in our classroom and I am not hits my nerves a little bit. I am sure I will be preoccupied with wedding duties and the site of the lovely ocean to worry :) 4 more days till I see the ocean welcoming me!

Rural Life

This past weekend, I went to Fulton and South Fulton for a wedding shower for Paula and John Paul. Emily and I enjoyed getting to see the rural life that the Adams live. I love my suburb life and would never want to live in a small rural town, but I did enjoy my short visit. I got to run through a corn field, see a chicken coop, see soy bean fields, and a log cabin built by Mr. Adams bare hands! Plus, I got to drink well water!

Paula and John Paul's wedding shower was at the town church. Soooooo many people came to celebrate thier future lives together. It was a lovely gathering with great BBQ, yummy cake, and tons of presents! It was such a fun mini-trip!

175

We have officially completed the first 5 days of the school year, therefore, 175 more to go! The week went pretty well. I am enjoying my new group of kiddos. I am also enjoying the hugs and hellos from my former students! Teaching children is such a rewarding job. The beginning of the school year is always tough, but the progress that the students make along the way is remarkable.

25!

Well, i turned 25 on Sunday. I had a great day! I got to go swimming at Paula and John Paul's house (even though she wasn't there). Swimming is so much fun when the temperature outside is near 100. No better place to be than in a cool pool! Then, i had my family b-day party at my parents house with pizza, lemon cupcakes, and presents. Everything was great!

The day after i turned 25, i went back to work for the start of the new school year. My teacher friend Lee took me to Milanos for lunch. I got a spinach calzone. Good stuff. This week has been full of teacher inservice and preparing my classroom for my new kiddos. Exciting and stressful time of the year. I am super excited about getting my new group of 3rd graders!

Out to Eat :)

I love going out to eat and loving every bit of my meal! I got to do that two days in a row! Yesterday, Memo and GD took my out to Red Lobster for a pre-birthday lunch. I got my regular, garlic shrimp scampi with a baked potato and a casear salad. Plus, I ate 3 cheddar biscuits :)

Eric and I went to Red Robin tonight to redeem my free birthday burger! Turns out, I decided to get a chicken sandwich instead of a burger. I got the blackened chicken sandwich which was amazing! It was spicy which gave it a great flavor. Eric of course got a spicy jalapeño burger.....it was good too, I had a little taste. The parmesan garlic fries were soooo good! And of course since it was my "b-day" burger, I got a free ice cream sundae along with a great melody sung by awesome Red Robin employees. The chocolate sundae hit the spot to complete a great meal!

Already having a great birthday and it isn't even here yet :)

Hostessing

I completed the final item on my summer "to-do" list today which means summer is coming to an end. I have enjoyed my relaxing summer vacation. It was definitely stress free.

The final item on my list was the most important item which was my big sister's wedding shower! The event was a success. Emily spent the night Friday so that she was here early to prep Saturday morning. We made some really yummy veggie sandwiches that involved us using a food chopper for the first time. It was funny watching Eric and Em try to figure out how to use the thing. We also served dip that I made, some tasty strawberry punch, and Muddy's cupcakes. Yummy! Here are a couple of photos:Me and Em: The Hostesses :)
3 generations of ladies :)
Me and the bride!

Summer List

I am working my way down my summer to-do list will be complete next weekend just as the summer is coming to an end for me! Since my last check list was posted I have accomplished a few of my tasks:

6) Redo master bedroom bathroom- complete!

7) Swim in a pool- complete!

8) Go on vacation- not going on one, so counting the trip to the lake, therefore complete!

Last on the list:

9) Host Paula's wedding shower- last thing left, coming this weekend!

Gotta get decorations and food supplies to prepare for my first experience as a shower-hoster! I am sure it will be a fun afternoon :)

Painting Party!

I got to do something that I had never done before this week! I went to a painting party on Tuesday night. A painting party is when you gather with a bunch of friends and you all paint the same picture. There is an artist that walks you through the entire process, and you leave with a painting that you have created! We all painted the same picture, but we got to choose our own colors to make it unique. Here is the whole group and then a close up of mine! It was a fun night!

America's B-Day

We spent the 4th of July at the lake for the 3rd year in a row! It was fun to get to swim and hang with the family. We ate BBQ and homemade ice cream! Sooo good :) JoJo had a blast like he always does at the lake. It was a great day. Then, we went to Memo and GD's to watch the G-Town fireworks. The finale was probably the best they have ever had! Fun times :) Hanging out by the shore!

Cool dragonfly that landed on Eric! Look @ its eyes!
Em and me on the swing!
My awesome grandmother!
My sweet grandfather!
My adorable dog!

Remodeling!

The master bathroom is COMPLETE! I am very happy with the results. The tile looks awesome and the paint color matches well. Brent did a great job. Emily helped me get the painting done b/c that is not a job that i love. We ended up getting new light fixtures, a new mirror, a new faucet, a new shower head, and a toliet paper holder that we can actually reach! All the new silver touches look great with the new tile.

Here is the big reveal :)

The Floor:

The Wall:
The shower shelf:
The main shower wall with the soap holder:
Shower Head:

Way better than the before photos! Couldnt get a complete shot since we are still putting the final touches on the paint. I will add a complete shot in a couple of days :)