Thursday, March 28, 2013

Whoops

Amidst all my excitement over Spring Break starting yesterday,
I completely forgot that I had already planned to link up
with the adorable Robin over at The Sunshine Diary.
This is the funnest link up
and I love love loved reading everyone's posts last week.
So (even though I'm a day late) here we go.


I can't believe....I forgot about this link up. Just throwing it out there one more time.

I can't believe....the high all week has only been in the 50s. I live in Eastern North Carolina for crying out loud. And it's almost April. I'm supposed to be laying out in my bikini right now.

I can't believe....Field Day only resulted in one and half injuries (one was a splinter - that barely counts).

I can't believe....Easter is this weekend! I feel like it has come so fast this year! The fa-reezing cold weather could have something to do with it too. (And yes, 50 degrees for Easter is fa-reezing. See above.)

I can't believe....my birthday is in two weeks. I have not done a very good job of utilizing my full birthday month this year. I'll probably try to change that starting...now.

I can't believe....Robbie and I skipped dinner Monday night cause we were so busy watching LOST. It's not even that good, yet somehow we have gotten sucked in. 

I can't believe....American Idol still exists. Especially with The Voice on at the same time. I mean hello? Blake Shelton and Adam Levine are enough reason to choose The Voice over American Idol. Not to mention the higher level of talent on The Voice. Just sayin.

I can't believe....my soul mate, very best friend, long lost sister (aka old college roommate) is coming to visit on Monday. Even though she's just popping in for the day, I am already so looking forward to seeing her. I miss having only a bathroom wall separate us instead of a whole county.



I'm going ahead and linking up for It's Okay...Thursday too
because I'm telling myself 

it's okay....that I have the memory of an 85 year old.

and it's okay....that I am never on time for anything.

and it's really okay....that I'm planning on sleeping in until noon-thirty tomorrow.
Yep, I said it. 

Its Ok Thursdays




Hugs,
 

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Why I Became a Teacher

It's simple, really.
And can be summed up in two words:

Spring Break

Okay. No, not really.
There are lots of reasons why I became a teacher.

Like the fact that I get to dress like this pretty often.


P.S. Yes, I made my costume and yes, I feel more prepared to be a mother now that I know I can at least handle that aspect of things.

Or the fact that I get to make these cute little things


and watch 85 first grade babies hunt Easter eggs 
(that I didn't have to hide - thanks 5th Grade volunteers)


Oh and there is the whole "making a difference, changing the world" thing.


That's a pretty big one too.




But right now, those two sweet little words are what comes to forefront of my mind.

Thank God for time off, to recharge and rejuvenate, 
to catch up on all the things that I've been neglecting lately (ahem sorry bloggy blog),
and to enjoy countless margs with my favorite ladies!



Happy Humpday folks!


Sunday, March 24, 2013

Monday

Monday. Monday. Monday.
I feel like we see each other way too often.

I'm linking up with Sami today
to fill you in on all my weekend shenanigans.

Except, not really.
There were no real shenanigans this weekend.
But you can click here to see what everyone else links up.
I'm sure someone was scandalous this weekend.

Friday

After going to school dressed like this

Gotta love Wacky Tacky Day

I drove to Wilmington with my mom 
and met my stepsister, Caroline, 
for the most delicious Mexican dinner ever.

It was so nice to be able to catch up with mom on the drive there
and then with Caroline at dinner. 
While we were there we visited my Memom at the rehab center
which always results in some laughs.

Saturday

I woke up earlier than usual
and tried to surprise my husband with breakfast in bed.
He, however, had stayed out a little too late with his friends
and was not quite feeling my 9 am french toast.
That little stinker.

I snuck in some playtime with this sweet boy and his mama


and then cried about how big he's gotten.
I mean, he has TWO teeth for crying out loud.

Saturday afternoon, Robbie and I went to see Olympus Has Fallen
and oh em gee. It was so good.
Let's just say, if you are ever in a state of emergency,
Gerald Butler is the man to call.

Robbie's good friend from Greensboro stayed with us Saturday night
and I realized while I love having people stay at my house,
I'm really not the best hostess. Whoops.
The boys played Playstation and I watched the Blindside.
Not a complete bust of a night.

Sunday

We woke up and went to church with my mom and stepdad.

And then parked our tooshies on the couch 
to watch LOST.
I remember how everyone was OBSESSED with this show.
We're about halfway through the first season
(yes we watched it all day)
but I'm still not seeing the need for all the hype.
I mean don't get me wrong,
we watched a good five hours of it yesterday on NetFlix
but it's definitely not one of those shows I would sit through commercials for
or even be able to wait week to week before watching another episode.

There was a brief momentary lapse of judgement
when I decided to leave the snuggly warmth of my couch
and treck out into the cold, gray, drizzle 
to go grocery shopping.
Apparently only the crazies go grocery shopping on cold, rainy Sundays.
The crazies and the screaming babies.

Disclaimer: I am not hating on all you mamas with babies.
I know that sometimes babies scream
and honestly, I can't blame them for screaming at the grocery store.
Sometimes I feel like I would if I could.
However, it does make grocery shopping a tad bit difficult,
as I'm sure you already know.



Now here we are again,
at the start of another week.
Except today I'm dressed as the Cowardly Lion
(seriously, I have the best job)
and it's a short week before Spring Break. Whoop.




Happy Monday dollfaces!


Hugs,


Friday, March 22, 2013

I confess...I love to back that azz up.

Oh, hello.
I have been such a blog slacker lately.
Not only have I not written a post since Tuesday,
I haven't read any blogs since Tuesday.
I know, I know...I suck.
And can already see how what my weekend's going to look like.
We'll go ahead and count that as confession #1.

#2. Go see Oz, The Great and Powerful. 
Right. Now.
I know technically that's not a confession,
but it's something you need to know.

#3. I am completely devastated that I have to wait until June 11
for a new Pretty Little Liars.
I am obsessed with that show
and I don't care who knows it.

#4. I ate (and drank) my weight in wine and chocolate yesterday.
I've never felt like more of a woman.

#5. This happened last weekend.



Yep. I swore up and down I would never, ever paint another thing in my house again.
But not even a full year after we began our home improvement hell adventure
I was right back at it again.
(It's not completely finished yet, but when it is, I'll post pictures.)

#6. Painting our deck isn't the only home improvement I've got in mind.
I have a problem, I'm convinced.

#7. I've stayed at school until 5:00 almost every day this week.
Not because I've been in meetings, 
not because I've been catching up on work,
but because I've been busy running my mouth.
Whoops.

#8. I'm wearing an outfit that looks like this to work today.



#9. Depending on my mood, when I leave work, 
I turn my subwoofer on, 
crank the bass,
and thump out to old school rap songs.
This generation just doesn't know what they're missing.

#10. When I say old school,
I mean from like 2007.
This is one of my particular favs.

Lollipop (feat. Static Major) by Lil Wayne on Grooveshark

P.S. I hope I did that right.
While creating my new webpage for school this week,
I spelled my own name wrong in my HTML address
so...yea. Confession #11.




Happy Friday y'all!


Tuesday, March 19, 2013

there can only be one Justin

Disclaimer: Remember how I hate Tuesdays.
Well yea, this should help.


Hi, my name is Marianna
and I am addicted to Justin Timberlake.

This addiction has been going on
since about 1998,
and just when I think I'm about to turn a corner, 
something like this happens


and I'm right back where I was.

I realize the first step is admitting there's a problem.
but I'm not really sure it's a problem.

If loving Justin Timberlake is wrong, I don't wanna be right.

Let's take a walk down memory lane, shall we?


I didn't know Justin during his Mickey Mouse Club days,
however, it's clear to see that he's deemed for success.
Oh Britney...if only we could have warned you then.

But as soon as I saw that N*SYNC concert special on Disney Channel,
I was in love.
What 10 year old girl wouldn't be?


Even those platinum blonde curls made me swoon.

{True Story: I had that exact same poster folded up in my journal. I couldn't dare hang it on my wall - it was way too scandalous.)

And just for the record - while I also liked the Backstreet Boys
it was never a real competition. 
N*SYNC was the best, hands down.


Unlike most "boy band wonders",
Justin didn't disappear after the group fizzled. 

He came back with a vengeance,
and started sitting at the cool kids' table. 

I'll let the irony of this picture just sit for a while.

He became quite the ladies man,


But like every respectful southern gentleman,
he found what he liked the most and put a ring on it.


He became a sort of kind of movie star


And then this happened.


I don't even really like SNL
(I know I know, who am I?)
But this guy cracks me up!


~


To sum it all up,
Justin Timberlake is the epitome of the perfect guy.
In line right after my husband, of course. 
Handsome, funny, and a little bit bad (we all remember that Super Bowl nip slip).

Brit Brit - ladies everywhere understand and feel your pain.


Cue Drake Best I Ever Had now.



Hugs,

Monday, March 18, 2013

Radiant Monday

Top o' the mornin to ya!

I know, I know.
It's not St. Patrick's Day anymore.
But talking like a leprechaun really shouldn't be limited to only one day.

While we all get back into the routine of our weeks,
some of us still nursing a green beer hangover,
I have got the greatest treat for you!

I found Kristen's blog a few months ago
and have found that she has quickly moved her way on up
to my number one read each day.
Girlfriend is hilarious.

When she mentioned swapping blogs for the day
I just knew I had to jump on it.
I mean, who couldn't use a good laugh on a Monday morning?
Literally - I LOL'd when reading this post.
And I hope you do to, unless you're at work
trying to be sneaky.

~


Hey there friends of Marianna!  I'm Kristen from This Radiant Life.


Marianna and I decided to go all Parent Trap on you guys and execute a little swaperoo.




Oh LiLo, how far you have fallen from your glory days.  **Sigh**

In contemplating my takeover of Marianna's blog, I couldn't help but constantly come back to how beautifully complimentary the two of us are.  I say that, because I am learning just how different we are, but yet we're like two cute little pre-teen redheads: we work together pretty well.  Take, for instance, our pet situations.

Marianna:

Me:

I mean, look at the size of their heads in relation to their bodies!  Clearly, I'm like the Jewish Grandmother of the pet world, feeding her cat until his head disappears in proportion to his body.  Marianna's dog looks kind of like one of those cheesy caricatures next to my cat.  That's the fault of my cat's fatness, not her dog having a weird head.

Next up, how we dress for work. I'm not going to lie, I'm super jealous of Marianna being a first grade teacher... she gets to do fun dress up days all of the time!

Marianna:

 Me:

The big difference?  I have to wait and wear a fun outfit once a year, while Marianna has the ability to declare fun dress-up days when she wants.  Talk about some serious power!

And last but not least, I have to talk about where we live, and our weather.

Marianna:

 Me:

 Apparently, bloggers in NC have a slightly different interpretation of "big snow storms" than those of us bloggers in "those big square states out west" do.

All in all, while we have so many surface differences, I know that at the end of the day, Marianna and I both love to write, to inspire, and to make people laugh.  And since we've got those things in common, it's fair to say that we probably won't be going the way of Lindsay Lohan anytime soon.

Source: chacha.com via Lauren on Pinterest


And if that last picture doesn't convince you to stop by my blog, I don't know what will.  Oh, wait.  Marianna's over there today hanging out, so go say "Hello!" to the person you originally came to see today =).


~

I mean, seriously
she had me at LiLo.

(Oh and if you didn't read that Parent Trap quote with a fake British accent, we may not be able to be friends anymore.)

Head on over to This Radiant Life right now to say hey to me,
but more importantly to read more from this funnay girl!



Hugs,

Thursday, March 14, 2013

Hello My Name Is

(what?) My name is (who?) My name is (wiki wiki) Slim Shady.

Anyone else think about that song 
when you hear the phrase, "my name is?"
No. Just me? Okay. Moving on.

~

I saw this link up yesterday, 
but because I made it to Thursday, yet again,
with no blogging ideas
I'm posting it today.

The cute Mrs. Reed at Flying into First Grade
is hosting her very first linky.
It's like a "get to know you" thing
and since I haven't talked about myself enough lately
I obviously had to participate.

The Rules:
Share 3 things about yourself using your initials.
Easy enough.

M
Monday

I was born on a Monday, so that's kind of cool
And I may be the only person in the world that doesn't absolutely hate Mondays.
Don't get me wrong, Monday is definitely in my top 4 least favorite days
(along with Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday)
But usually on Mondays I'm still enjoying the afterglow of my weekend
so they're not completely miserable.

Oh, God, the late 80s were so cool.


R
Red

I went to NC State so there's that whole school pride thing.
Also, my husband's initials are RED.
(Robert Eugene Dunn III).
Needless to say, RED is pretty special to me!

Get it, he's my hubs. bahahaha


D
Dogs

If you hang out around these parts for very long,
you'll quickly learn that I am obsessed with my dogs,
and that's putting in lightly.

However, I'm not a dog person.
I grew up with the best Golden Retriever ever
and loved her with all my heart.
And I think almost every puppy I meet is the cutest thing ever.
But the whole taking care of dogs/letting them sleep in your bed/playing with them/walking them/letting them out to pee thing is not my cup of tea.
Or rather, it wasn't my cup of tea.
I was actually kind of annoyed when Robbie told me he got me a dog.
I was not ready for that responsibility. 
However, I have now been converted to the dark side.

When people I don't know hear me talk about my dogs,
they think I'm talking about real children.
#sorrynotsorry




In hindsight I realize these probably weren't the best words to come up with to describe me.
But they were the first ones that popped in my head.


Now, go be fashionably late like me
and link up! 




Hugs,


Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Things that make my heart smile.

Do you ever have those moments
where you feel like your heart is literally
going to burst out of your chest 
because it is so full of love and happiness?


Yea, they're the best.

Usually they happen for me 
over the littlest of things,
but that's what makes it so great.

Like when my kids finally get something 
that they've really been struggling with.

Or when they rock out to KidzBop during Recess. 

Those aren't my kids, but you get the idea.

One of the biggest things that makes my heart burst 
is when Robbie and my brother, Carter, hang out together.
I know it sounds stupid, but hear me out.

Carter and I have always been really close. 
When we were little we used to talk about all the things
we were going to do together when we grew up. 
Family vacations, holiday celebrations, day trips to Busch Gardens (we were 11), etc.
We always promised each other, 
that we would only get married to someone that the other absolutely 
loved and approved of. 

Clearly we've always been really attractive too.


Now that we're actually getting kind of close to the whole 
"grown-up" thing (I know technically I'm there, but shhh)
it makes me so happy to see some of those things actually happening.
Especially the marriage part.

There is nothing that means more to me
than the fact that my husband and my brother,
two of the most important men in my life,
can have a relationship together. 


The fact that Carter supports us 
and always has, is extremely important to me
(and Robbie. Asking for Carter's blessing was just as important to him as asking for my dad's.)
But the fact that they, on their own, have also become friends
means the world to me. 

~

Hope your heart is bursting with something happy today! 



Hugs,

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Five (Semi) Important Things

So apparently, there's this fun little game
floating around blogland
which involves two things every blogger loves - 
1. Tagging friends and 2. Talking about ourselves.

If only we could figure out a way to throw an OOTD in there.


Oh good. Now that that's taken care of....

My favorite little New Yorker, Erin, tagged me.
And I'm tagging Lauren, Kristen, and Sheree.

Now for five super duper, sort of kind of, really not at all
important things you need to know about me. 

{1.}

I never fill up my gas tank up completely.
When I do put gas in my car,
it makes me happy to stop at an even number,
but it makes me even happier to stop at a palindrome number
like $40.04.

I also never ever wash my car. 
I can probably count on one hand the times it's been washed
in the year that I've owned it.
Whoops.

{2.}

If things are in neat piles, I don't feel like there's a mess.
For example, even though there are 18 different pairs of shoes
by our back door right now,
as long as they are all paired up and in a nice, neat line
I'm okay.
The same goes for my desk and neat, little piles of paper.

{3.}

At school, when I'm working with a small group
I usually wear a pink feather boa
so other students know not to interrupt me.
You fancy, huh?
Today when I was working with a group,
I hadn't put on my boa but instead 
had it hanging on the bookcase behind my table.
When low and behold, one of the kids in my group
points out a HUGE spider tucked in one of the feathers still alive.

I most definitely will have nightmares about that tonight.

{4.}

I am currently obsessed with the DIY Network
and have about 50 million different home improvement ideas
constantly running through my head.

The only problem is, they are all so different
and I can't decide on just one,
so most likely none of them will ever really happen.
Oh and there's that little thing called money too, eh.

{5.}

I sort of got to go on my honeymoon two summers in a row.
And I'm already going through withdrawals 
knowing it won't happen again this summer. 

When Robbie and I got married in July 2011
we went to the Hard Rock Resort and Casino in Punta Cana, DR.
It. Was. Amazing.

Last summer in June 2012
after my brother graduated high school,
we took our first "blended-family" vacation to,
you guessed it, the Hard Rock Resort and Casino in Punta Cana, DR.
It. Was. Still. Amazing.

And it didn't take long for Robbie and I to get used to the idea
of traveling somewhere all-inclusive, tropical, and gorgeous 
every 11 months.
We'll be due for another paradise vacation around May
and will be taking any and all donations starting now.
Kidding. Kind of.





Two things about traveling.
1. I travel much better to all-inclusive places.
I have a really bad habit of being way too OCD about money
to the point where I'll keep a running record in my mind 
of everything we're spending, even on vacation.
Paying a one-time fee, up front and not having to think about money for the rest of the trip
is sooooo nice. Unlimited food, drinks, and massages 
without whipping out a credit card = heaven on earth.
2. I'm linking up with Helene for Travel Tuesdays
and counting down the days until Spring time is officially here. 



Hugs,