Feeling A Little Grinchy...

I'm thinking I need to do this.

Get everything off my chest.

This may not be the happiest post.

It definitely may not be the most joyful, two-days before Christmas post.

And heck - you may even not want to read it.

And I wouldn't blame you.

But sometimes, life isn't full of rainbows and butterflies.

Sometimes you just feel like The Grinch.

 And recently, I've felt like The Grinch.

Now, I might sound ungrateful. Depressing. Whiny.

But I need a good vent.

So here's to hoping this vent, puts me back in the Christmas spirit.

  

One.

I've been stressed.

Hence the no blogging last week.

I didn't feel very bloggy at all. And I still don't.

I'm sure any teacher can relate to the fact that the last few weeks before winter break, are by far, the hardest. Sure - I may have procrastinated a little on my grades. I could have planned our winter party and activities a little sooner in advance. But if you aren't a teacher, you really don't understand all the things you truly have to get done before you leave for your break.

• Bulletin boards have to be January ready. 
• Grades have to be done by such and such date.
• Test all 23 children in your class for their current end of the grading period reading levels, all while trying to provide engaging and meaningful lessons to the kids you can't assist because you're busy testing one.
• Providing a holiday party that your kids will cherish and remember for as long as their seven year old brains will let them.
• Squeeze in any material you may not have gotten to throughout the nine weeks.
• Making sure you have so many grades in the grade book per subject.
• Having lesson plans done for the week you come back from break.
• Oh, and sorry custodians. Because I totally forgot to unplug everything in my classroom for the break because I was carrying a 15 lb bag full of papers needing to be graded. Oops.

 I love my job. I love my kids. I love my school.

It just gets to be overwhelming.

And even though I'm done with most of the things on my list from school, I still don't feel relieved. I feel like there's something I'm forgetting. Something that needs to be done.

Two.

I am not in the Christmas spirit at all.

"You're a mean one, Mr. Grinch."

Yeah, that's me.

 I think there's a few reasons why my heart is feeling three sizes too small these days.

• Yeah, you heard about the data breach at Target? Oh hey, meet victim number #23,452,653 out of 40 million. It's been awesome timing, really. I can't access my debit card account because Bank of America closed it for precautionary measures. I appreciate it. I really do. BUT NOW!?! In the midst of my Christmas shopping? My lucky fiance' will have a whopping one gift to open for Christmas. And it's not even that good. I know he understands, but it's the fact of the matter.
• Cody and I decided we would not be attending my family's Christmas this year on Christmas day. For the last five years, he has so selflessly put his family on the back burner, rushed Christmases with his parents and grandparents, to attend my family's Christmases. We felt like this year, we should try something different. And although my family has crapped their pants over this, we feel it is for the best. We always see my parents on Christmas Eve for Christmas dinner. We're seeing my grandparents on the 26th for a post-Christmas lunch. We got this covered y'all. Wait until we have kids - Christmas will revolve around my kids. Not traveling all over the world.  
• HOW CAN CHRISTMAS BE TWO DAYS AWAY? I have not made cookies. I have not made a gingerbread house. I have not gone to see Christmas lights. I have not watched one Christmas movie. I'M NOT READY. I need Christmas activities to put me in the Christmas spirit.

 Three.

Wedding planning has all of a sudden freaked me out.

We've had a lot of things go wrong.

• My engagement ring. [I finally got my new one back and sized.]
• I lost a bridesmaid.
• Our Save the Dates really didn't turn out the way I hoped. In fact, I'm kinda embarrassed by them. People's Christmas cards look better than my Save the Dates.

There's so many decisions I need to start making, and honestly, I've put wedding planning on the back burner recently. With a little over five months left, I feel like I'm running out of time.

I'm questioning some of the decisions I've made thus far - such as the bridesmaid dresses. Did I pick the right dress? Is the color going to work with my vision? Is it ugly? AHHH.

 I need to take some deep breaths apparently.

And I'm done.

I hope Santa is extra good to you if you read this far.

Cheers to a New Year {July.August.September}

It's that day again!

It's day three of the "Cheers to a New Year" link-up!

We're highlighting our year, saying goodbye to 2013 and hello to 2014.

And today we're looking back at our favorite moments from July, August & September.

Anybody can link-up, even if you haven't before!

Here are my lovely co-hosts:

Miranda @ Life in the Lowcountry

Ashley @ A Thousand Words

Kerri @ A Sweet Georgia Peach

Laura @ Happily Ever Parker

It's easy to join in on the fun - grab the button below and get to reminiscing on July, August & September!

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<a href="http://peachstateofmindleh.blogspot.com" title="Peach State of Mind"><img src="http://i1350.photobucket.com/albums/p771/lauren7maci/1aa234_zpsadbb16b0.png" alt="Peach State of Mind" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

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{ JULY }

We kicked off our July with a very rainy July 4th.
In fact, we celebrated it twice since fireworks were rained out the first time!
Extended holiday? No complaints here!

July 4th - Take One

July 4th - Take Two

 

We celebrated a weenie dog's birthday!
My little babe, Maci, turned three!
#crazydogmom

My flower girl said yes!

 And we spent some time on the lake!

 

{ AUGUST }

August was back to reality month for me.
No more summer vacation - back to school.
I was so relieved to be in 2nd grade - away from the raging hormones of 5th grade!

 My sweet Nannie turned 87!

After all the back-to-school stress, we took a break and enjoyed time with family & friends.

I met Brittany's sweet little boy, Luke, for the first time!

PRECIOUS.

And we kicked off football season!

GO DAWGS! [Even if we lost.]

{ SEPTEMBER }

We spent most of September watching football!
Including a trip to Athens for the first home game.

But we did take a trip to Jaemor Farms to kick off the fall season!

 
 That's it y'all!
Grab the button and get to sharing your favorites moments!
 [You can link-up until Wednesday & next Thursday will be the last link-up]
 Can't wait to see what y'all have to share from 2013!

Weekend Shenanigans: Ring[less] & More

Happy Monday blog friends!

One more week until this girl is free from school.

Until then, I'll be cramming last minute lessons, grading papers & planning for our party.

I may need a Starbucks salted caramel hot chocolate to keep my stress level under control!

Here's how our weekend went.

{ FRIDAY }

I was SO excited for Friday to come. 

We were finally picking up my new engagement ring, after the original ring nightmare that we had been dealing with for months. 

I was finally going to be "engaged" again.

 But no.

My dumb finger had to stand in the way.

The ring they ordered is too small.

Apparently, Neil Lane doesn't do quarter sizes.

It's either 4.5 or 5.

And guess who is right in the middle?

Yep. Me.

You wouldn't think it would be that big of a difference.  

But when I wore it for a day, and I went to take it off...

I needed soap, water & Cody's strength to pull it off my finger.

Eventually, the ring slid off - along with THE SKIN AROUND MY KNUCKLE.

I balled. Like a baby.

So now, I'm ringless again until we figure out yet another solution.

Lucky me.

{ SATURDAY }

My sister and I headed to my aunt's house to eat lunch together and decorate her Christmas tree. It was fun and festive, despite another rainy Saturday.

My attempt at posing her. [Sorry Esther - had to! :) ]

Once Whitney and I left there, we did some Christmas shopping with my mama.

I had my first Starbucks salted caramel hot chocolate. And I'm in LOVE! 

{ SUNDAY }

Cody and I did a little Christmas shopping of our own!

Well, we really just pointed out stuff that we wanted. :D

But I did buy these little babies!

Welcome to my childhood.

I needed "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" for a lesson we're doing this week, but the box set looked even better. And I just couldn't pass up the other one!

Soooooooo. I gave in.

Thanks Target, for making me purchase something I don't really need once again.

I hope everybody's weekend was fun and full of Christmas festivities!

Link-up with Sami @ Sami's Shenanigans to share your weekend!

Five on Friday

It's Friday y'all!

AKA. That much closer to Christmas.

And I have yet to buy ANYBODY a gift.

Y'all will know where to find me on Christmas Eve...

Wal-Mart.

Buying my last-minute presents since I'm obviously a procrastinator. 

Let's hope I get my act together this weekend.

And now that you mentioned the weekend [ok. well I did.], Friday means it's Five on Friday with the ladies!

Carolina Charm. the good life. A. Liz. Adventures. Hello! Happiness.

{ ONE }

Thanks to all the wonderful ladies for linking up with us yesterday for the "Cheers to a New Year" link-up! 

The link-up highlights the most memorable moments of 2013, in three month increments.

Reviewing your year can get so overwhelming, so this was the perfect solution!

This week we looked back on April, May & June!

You can find my post here.

And you can still link-up with us until Wednesday!

{ TWO }

So, if you have followed me for the last couple of weeks, you probably know that this bride-to-be does NOT have an engagement ring.

Yeah. I really don't. And I don't like it.

I've been ringless for the majority of our engagement it seems like.

Say bye-bye to this baby.

We've had so many issues with that ring.

I'll go into more details next week, but the good news is...

Kay's finally got their act together and have let Cody and I exchange & upgrade our ring.

It sucks to be losing the original ring (which was my second ring anyway), but I'm going to pick up my NEW, DIFFERENT STYLE, DIFFERENT DESIGNER, ring.

WOOHOO for getting engaged. Again.

{ THREE }

Tomorrow, my sister Whitney and I will be headed over to my Aunt's house for lunch and tree decorating. It will be a festive Saturday for the season!

{ FOUR }

It's officially the holiday season in 2nd grade!

Next week is the last week before our Christmas break.

I finally updated my bulletin board this week...which will only be up for a week and a half...

But I thought it was cute!

[We were working on Author's Purpose - hence the P.I.E.]

So now, I'm trying my best to plan some festive lessons for next week.

We're going to be comparing texts in reading - so why not compare the cartoon Grinch video and the book, right? :D And maybe some Polar Express! I got this figured out y'all.

{ FIVE }

I thought about waiting to share these when I knew everybody had received them in the mail, but I got impatient!

Here are our Save the Dates/Christmas cards!

I knew I wanted to combine the two concepts for awhile now.

I had seen it done a few times on Pinterest, but it just worked out perfectly for us since we're getting married in June.

I ordered my Save the Dates from minted.com.

And I have to say, I am extremely disappointed with the service.

I had read so many blogs with bloggers who used Minted.

I read nothing but great things.

I opened the first box of save the dates to find my face looking like an alien.

And that just doesn't work for me!

More than half of the cards had distorted/blurry pictures.

 

I SOMEHOW managed to stay calm, called customer service, and they so kindly ordered me what I need for free, apologizing for the printing error.

Well, problem wasn't fixed.

The second box had the same problem as the first.

Half of the postcards were blurry.

Luckily, I had ordered more than I needed.

I had enough to send out, and just didn't bother again.

No more service from me. Sadly.

Cause they're really cute. :(

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Have a great weekend y'all!