first week back.

(just some instagrams from the week. i'm ridiculous.)

This week has been my first week to REALLY be back at school since getting out of the hospital. Sure, I went back the Friday before spring break, but that didn't really count.

I'm not going to lie and say it was an easy week, but I can say that it was a week full of blessings. 

I've started a new routine of waking up between 5 and 5:30. If you had told me to wake up that early a year ago, I would have laughed in your face. But I really enjoy the quiet time in the morning where I am the only one in the house awake. Plus, it gives me time to do any last minute work or studying I may need to do before my 8 AM class. AND it helps me get in the groove for student teaching next semester....eeek!

Monday, I had my last group teaching day in the Madison schools. My group taught three different science lessons to four groups of fifth graders over the semester, and it has been so much fun. I always thought I wanted to work with the first or second grade age group, but teaching older kids has allowed me to see that I think I will be happy no matter where God places me in my career. I was really sad to leave the science lab for the  last time - those kids have a bright future!

I spent a lot of time finalizing a unit lesson plan that was due Wednesday. I stayed up the latest I have all semester (1:30!) to finish it. I can't believe I used to stay up until 3 or 4 AM - or even pull all nighters - and be good to go the next day. When did I get so old? I need two or three cups of coffee (at least!) to make it through the day now.

This was also the week we were supposed to find out our placements for the rest of professional block. The way our class works is this - the first half is lecture, the second half is field experience. So, starting in April, we will be teaching twenty lesson plans to a classroom we have been assigned to in Jackson. I was so nervous to find out my placement and who my supervising professor would be! I found out my school and supervisor Wednesday, and the nerves just kept flowing. I nervously facebook messaged a girl from my roommate's graduating class who I knew was assigned to the same school and professor when she went through block, and she sent me back nothing but encouraging words. Today, I found out the cooperating teacher and grade I'd be teaching, and funnily enough, I ended up with the same teacher she had! God knew what He was doing when he placed it on my heart to send her a message. I now have a resource and someone to talk to when things get tough (or go great!) in that classroom! She had nothing but wonderful things to say, and I can't wait to start working with these fifth graders! I meet them on Tuesday, and I am SO excited!

God has just been so diligent in telling me not to worry. I can look so calm and collected on the outside, but inside my heart is always a nervous wreck. I've suffered panic attacks and sleep paralysis because of nerves before, and it's one of the very worst feelings in the world. My quiet times have been so full and rich with God's reassurance that the here and now is temporary, but His provision is eternal. A little camp song has been going through my mind constantly that we used to sing at Redcloud - "Cast your burdens on Jesus 'cause He cares for YOU!" Amen and hallelujah!

Other than that, I have been working on paperwork for student teaching, going to class, eating lots of veggies, and going to bed ridiculously early (between 8:30 - 10, crazy!) I plan on taking it easy this weekend, sleeping in a little, and hearing my baby brother sing on Sunday night!

Currently.

Watching Well, at the moment, nothing. I watched Pitch Perfect earlier, though and I'll probably watch it again later (it's just so funny!) I'm trying to lesson plan, though, and I get distracted if I watch something at the same time.

Thinking about All the work I have to get done between this evening and tomorrow. Two more lesson plans, studying for a test, and preparing for another lesson I'm assisting with on Monday.

Listening to the Lumineers station on Spotify. The song right now is Patron Saints by Regina Spektor.

Excited about The warmer weather! I wore a cardigan and tights to a wedding today and when I left it was so hot! I'll miss wearing cardigans all the time (who am I kidding, I'll still wear them...) but warmer weather is exciting!

Reading The Passing Bells by Phillip Rock. It's similar to Downton Abbey and wonderful so far.

Loving my short hair! I had it this short about two years ago and I missed it. So much less time in the mornings! I feel more grown up with it this way.

Drinking I may have just discovered Chai Lattes this week and I am addicted.

Eating leftover red peppers stuffed with tomato basil sauce and sauteed eggplant. So yum! I also had some wedding food today and I'm not ashamed about it. I can't eat any greens (well, I can have a few) because of the blood thinners I am on, so I have also been eating potatoes more than usual. I used to hate them but I love them now!

Missing School, as funny as that sounds. I was out for 10 days in the hospital, and then had spring break. I miss routine!

Making me happy my brother is home from Saint Louis. I am making progress on makeup work. I have a wonderful family and wonderful friends. I went to a fun jewelry party last night. My house is cute. I get to start my herb/vegetable garden. Basically everything lately is making me happy!

NOLA, Y'all.

I am the most sporadic blogger ever. But it's my blog and I'll blog what (and when) I want to, right? Right.

Spring Break is here. Technically I have had the longest break in the world because I was in the hospital for ten days, made it back to school on a Friday, and then break started that weekend. The hospital was scary (I have blood clots in my lungs...woah.) but I am so glad they figured it out and have me on some good medication and regular doctor's visits now. I never want to miss 10 days of school again. Ever.

Tuesday my mom and I went to New Orleans for a much needed break. We don't go on trips very often, and walking around a big city, doing some shopping, and eating some good food was just what we needed.

I went to this place, where I got the first and most wonderful Chai Latte I have ever had. I might be addicted now.

I may have splurged just a little at Urban Outfitters, but we don't have one in Jackson and I got almost everything on sale. Plus. They are cat shoes. And a cat shirt. I couldn't say no to that.

We ate dinner at Felix's, our favorite place in New Orleans. Normally I say to heck with it and get fried oysters or catfish, but I can't really have fried food now (I did eat the sweet potato fries...) so we both got grilled shrimp for a change and it was AMAZING. I might love it more than fried oysters, and that says a lot!

Maybe I am weird, but I love staying in hotels. It was a lovely stay at the St. James. I slept like a baby and the bed was like a cloud. I didn't want to leave! Checkout was a depressing time.

Wednesday morning we had brunch at The Ruby Slipper, which was right down the road from our hotel on Magazine Street. This may have been my favorite meal of the whole trip. I got a Spanish omelette that had an amazing sauce and perfect sausage. My mom got a strawberry and blackberry pancake and it was also delicious! I'll be going back here next time I'm in New Orleans.

We rounded out the trip with Cafe du Monde beignets and coffee. You can't go to New Orleans and not go there, and that's a fact.

The rest of Spring Break, unfortunately, consists of trying to catch up on all the work I missed and everything that is due in the next couple of weeks. I have a doctor's appointment for my lungs in the morning and then I'll be lesson planning all day. Sunday I have brunch plans and a wedding to go to, and Sunday after church will be more studying and planning. Back to reality, I guess!

The rest of our trip...

...to Georgia was very pleasant. I watched several of the Poirot movies my grandfather got for Christmas, did a little shopping - and my favorite - had lunch at Umaido.

One of the last days we were there, I got a text from my cousin asking if I wanted some "real" Ramen for lunch. I felt bad, but really wanted to get out of the house, so I happily went along. Turns out, this was one of the best decisions ever.

I like Ramen. What broke college kid doesn't? But this was like... real deal. All our noodles were fresh. But before I even get to the ramen, lemme talk about the appetizers! We ordered Japanese pickles, pork belly (so. good.), edamame, and dumplings. We could have had a meal just off of our appetizers, but then the soup came. Y'all. It was beautiful!

There's noodles, scallions, pork slices... an egg (I didn't get brave enough to eat the egg, but everyone else loved theirs.) I've never had "authentic" Ramen, but I can imagine this was pretty darn close. We all enjoyed slurping down our noodles and the bathrooms had cool mirrors, and who doesn't take a selfie in cool mirrors? Well, I did, anyway.

As my cousin Clay said, "How can you eat this and not believe there is a God?"

While we were still in Georgia, I also scored a 50 dollar coat at Old Navy for 12 bucks, and some great movies at Barnes and Noble for 50% off. No complaints there!

Now I'm back in Mississippi with less than a week left until I start school (and my professional block classes!) Two semesters left! Until school starts, I'm busying myself with learning lines for Arcadia and reading all of Hercule Poirot's short stories (lucky library find!)

A Les Mis Review by someone who knows nothing about singing.

Alright, guys. I'm going to give you a little introduction to how I fell in love with Les Miserables. In high school, my friends and I rented the awful version with Uma Thurman and Liam Neeson. I hated it. Looking back now, I know why. But I just thought it was awful. Then, my senior class took a trip to London for our spring break. A trip to the West End to see the musical was the first thing on our itinerary, and I was dreading it. I love musicals, but I just couldn't tolerate sitting through the story I thought I hated again.

And how wrong I was. I wish I were as huge into theatre as I am now and could tell you which actors and actresses graced the stage that night, but I can tell you my life was changed. I had never been exposed to such a powerful story about redemption and forgiveness, as well as the beautiful music. Since 2008 I have ached to see it again, but could never afford tickets. I satisfied myself with listening to the cast recordings and watching the 25th concert on PBS. And reading the book, which was a feat, but I did it.

So when I heard it was going to be a movie... I wasn't sure what to think. I was excited about the story being translated to the screen, but taking a stage musical and putting it on film is a risky thing to do. And like many others, I just felt like this musical was mine. What if they butchered it? What if they chose awful actors?

Well, I saw it Christmas night. And this is what I thought.

Amazing.

I will say after listening to the 10th anniversary recording (my favorite), it was difficult to get used to Hugh Jackman. His style is different from any Valjean I've ever heard, but once I got used to it it was beautiful. "Who Am I" is my favorite Valjean song, and when he marched up in the court singing, "24601!" it took everything in me not to throw my fist in the air. I thought he was spectacular.

Anne Hathaway is not an actress that I admire.I hate the roles she picks, I hate her speaking voice (it just grates on my nerves), and I stay away from movies that she is in. To be honest, I was excited that if she had to be in this movie at all, she was Fantine, and died relatively early on so I wouldn't have to put up with her. But she did a beautiful job. My gut literally hurt when she sang "I Dreamed A Dream." Is she Lea Solonga? No. But if I'm honest... I might be going to Anne's recording from now on. Should I be murdered? I hope not.

I was very skeptical, but excited, to see Bonham-Carter and Baron Cohen as the Thénardiers. The production company seemed to be keeping them secret from us - whether it was because they were terrible or wonderful - but I loved their performances. I thought they took "Master of the House" a bit too far, but I laughed all of the same. I hated them and loved them all at once, which is what I think anyone playing the Thénardiers should strive for.

I have to give the child actors serious credit. Gavroche has always been one of my three favorite characters (along with Eponine and Enjolras). Daniel Huttlestone was fabulous. "Little People" is one of my favorite songs, and he did a great job. And all of the most heart-wrenching moments in the film involved little Gavroche. Oh, I just loved him. And Isabelle Allen did a great job with her few moments of spotlight.

I had never heard of Aaron Tveit before. I had listened to the Next to Normal recording a few times, but never really paid attention to the singers. And I don't watch Gossip Girl... His performance as Enjolras was my favorite of the entire film. I would follow him into a revolution. First of all, holy wow, he's attractive. Secondly, he held my attention the whole time because he sang and acted (at the same time!) with such believability that I was awestruck. He has the number one spot for favorite actor now. His death hurt me most of all after Gavroche's. I love his character, and I loved Aaron's version.

The highlights for me were "One Day More" and "Empty Chairs at Empty Tables." Absolutely incredible. And the finale.

I was not blown away by Amanda Seyfreid as Cossette, but I didn't hate her either. She is my very least favorite character anyway, so I didn't care too much one way or the other.

Samantha Barks was fabulous. Like I said, Eponine is another favorite character, and I really enjoyed her performances. I did find myself wondering where her waist was for half of the movie, but I loved her. Eponine breaks my heart everytime she opens her mouth, and Sam did just that.

I know a lot of people did not like the close-ups during singing, but I appreciated them. When you watch the stage version, you don't get to see the actor's face. You take in everything at once. I appreciated the intimate face-to-face time we got while we watched it.

Now, was this movie perfect? No. And my main reason is the same as others. Russel Crowe. I don't really need to say much because so many others have said it. I know nothing about singing, but I know there are hundreds of actors better suited to be Javert. His songs were hard to sit through, and it felt like he was just Russel Crowe dressed up in a uniform with little acting involved. Not enjoyable. Not anywhere near the conflicted Javert we are supposed to see.

My other main issue were lines that were cut from the songs. I understood why some lines from "Drink With Me" were removed. It's a slow song in the middle of a ton of action and it's hard to switch back and forth. The main line I was upset about was during "A Little Fall of Rain." When Eponine sings "I'll sleep in your embrace at last..." I always lose it. I was waiting with Kleenex on hand as she died... and it wasn't there. What. The. Dump. That is the best line of the song! I was so distraught. Several other songs/lines from songs were missing as well, and it kind of felt like a punch in the gut.

I also wish Eponine was featured like she is supposed to be during the epilogue, but whatever. I didn't even notice it the first time I saw it. 

I know not everyone agrees with me. I know a lot of theatre/musical theatre people might be mad at me for loving it as much as I do. But I did, and I'm not ashamed to say that. I went in knowing the story and music, and I still cried and ripped through about 6 tissues. Bravo, Tom Hooper. I will be buying this and enjoying it for many, many years to come.

Merry Christmas!

I know I am a few days late with a Christmas post, but whatever. This year my mom, brother, dog, and I trekked to Gainesville, GA where most of my mom's family lives. Our first night here, my brother and I went to our cousin Anneliese and Corey's (hooray for the newlyweds!) for a night full of delicious Gnocchi and beignets made by my cousin Torie and a viewing of Chevy Chase's Christmas Vacation.

(gnocchi!)

The days in between arriving here and Christmas, my brother and I stayed with my Aunt and cousins who had come home from Birmingham and Atlanta. It was filled with lots of Super Smash Bros Brawl (it's not a cousin get-together if we don't play), movies, and outings to Buffalo Wild Wings. Christmas Eve, we had a massive family cookie party, attended the candlelight service, and ate at the Golden Buddha for some Christmas Eve Chinese food (another big family tradition!)

(I was awful proud of my Harry Potter cookie.)

Christmas Eve, my brother and I came back to my grandparents after dinner and watched A Christmas Story while enjoying some Baileys' Irish Cream (yet another tradition.) 

Christmas this year has definitely been more about spending time with family rather than the gifts, and that is exactly as it should be! That being said, I got some lovely gifts. My mom got me the softest pink bathrobe and new makeup, my great-grandmother gave me some of her old knitting books that contain some of the coolest stitches I have ever seen, an Old Navy Gift Card, and lots of little odds and ends in my stocking as well. I am just overwhelmed to receive any gifts at all! And my mom loved the Bath and Body Works stuff I got her, and my brother will enjoy his Dick's Sporting Goods Card. It was a great Christmas morning!

That evening, our whole family went to my Aunt and Uncle's for Christmas dinner. And if our family knows how to do anything, it's cook! We enjoyed ham, fried turkey, broccoli casserole, green beans, cheesy potatoes and who knows how much else! And that was just dinner. Desserts were just as good! Hazlenut cheesecake, coconut cake, cherry pie... and it was all delicious. In true family fashion, all the cousins sat at the "kids' table" (the youngest one of us is 15, but we don't care!) It was a wonderful time!

After dinner, my cousins Summer and Anne Marie and I went and saw Les Miserables. And to say I was blown away is an understatement, and yes, I have seen the stage play in London and yes, I thought it was just as good. I have now seen it twice and will be writing my review of it later today. I highly recommend it (and have plans to see it a third time once I'm back in Mississippi!) We wore our paper crowns from our crackers to the movie and had a grand old time.

It has been a great Christmas and we are here in Georgia until the 29th. Tonight we are having dinner at my Aunt Catherine's house and taking all of our dogs to the dog-park this afternoon. Hopefully Roscoe makes some friends :)