Guess who's weekend started today?

This girl's...HOLLAAAA!

Three days off is just what the doctor ordered. I'm so excited to eat myself into a food coma, put up Christmas decorations, get crafty, workout, and celebrate my cousin's wedding. All before packing up and heading to camp on Monday. I'm pretty sure that spending five days in the great outdoors with 100 6th graders is not part of the doctor's orders but at least I get a couple days of work to mentally prepare.

What is on your holiday vacation agenda?

My sisters, Emily and Lindsey are two of the funniest people in the world. I'm so thankful my family has a good sense of humor. We often can laugh for hours just saying silly quotes from movies. Oft quoted movies when we're around each other: Mrs. Doubtfire, ("Hot jambalaya!" and "It was a run by fruiting!") Emperor's New Groove ("Llama face!"), just about anything with Rob Schneider in it, Road Trip, and countless others.(Yes, we have fantastic taste in movies).




When we were younger we were like any normal set of siblings, squabbling over clothes, arguing who got to use the computer next (ohmygod, the days of only having one computer...now we practically carry one everywhere we go with our phones) we really weren't super close.

We all had our own things - me, the family dork who loves school and following the rules. Emily is the exact opposite of me, drop dead gorgeous, athletic, and stubborn as all get out. Lindsey is a mixture of the two of us. I always say she got all the good qualities in the family, smart, athletic, pretty, and funny.

 And I still don't think we are the type of sisters who are BFF but we definitely love one another and are growing closer everyday. It took growing up and moving out of the same house for us to begin appreciating the unique qualities of each other.

Through all the laughs and the tears, I'm so thankful that I've grown up with these two knuckleheads.

Oh my stars! I've been nominated for the Liebster Blog Award! Thanks to Karli at hello darlin'
for thinking of me and little slice of the blogosphere.

The Liebster Award is awarded by bloggers, for bloggers. It spotlights new or up and coming bloggers with less than 200 followers. It's a great way to find new and noteworthy blogs.

The Rules:

1. Each blogger should post 11 random facts about themselves.
2. Answer the questions the tagger has set for you and then create 11 new questions for the bloggers you pass the award to.
3. Choose 11 new bloggers (with less than 200 followers) to pass the award to and link them in your post.
4. Go back to their page and tell them about the award.
5. No tag backs.

11 random facts about me:

1. I won a "Most Adorable Baby" contest in 1986.
2. I never boil my hotdogs, I only cook them in the microwave.
3. I secretly wish I could play any musical instrument, especially the steel guitar.
4. My friends call me Ravine after a silly night out in college.
5. I hate lettuce.
6. I have a birthmark shaped like Australia.
7. I like to think I have a very vivid long term memory, I can recall exact moments from very early on in childhood - like down to what I was wearing and exact things that were said. However my short term memory is the exact opposite.
8. My left arm is noticeably shorter than my right because I have rheumatoid arthritis.
9. Dr. Pepper is my favorite soda.
10. I've never broken a bone.

Questions from Karli:


Questions for Nominees:

1. Favorite Thanksgiving food?
2. Best gift you ever received?
3. Favorite scent?
4. If you had to change jobs tomorrow, what would you decide to do?
5. What's your porn star name? (Middle name + street you grew up on)
6. If you had to give up your cell phone or the internet, which one would you choose?
7. Go to the mall or online shop?
8. Favorite song to sing karoke?
9. Why do you like blogging?
10. Are you scared of anything?
11. One blog you visit everyday?

My nominees: Most of you I stalk every Friday on High Five for Friday link party or have found through other teaching blogs.

Brittney - Brittney's Orr-dinary Life

Amy - Motherhood Imperfected

Ashlie - Nonsense

Megan - Oh Happy Day

Elaina Ann - The Classy Teacher  

Kati - Incorporating Color

Erin - Life as a Losey 

Sally - Splash of Wine

Andrea - Spray Paint and a Staple Gun

Sarah Grace - Gracefully Made 

 



 



     

Even as I typed the title of this post I was like, "Really Sara? You're thankful for the gym? Seriously?"

But really I am thankful that I have the will to want to go to the gym even when I feel my worst. I ultimately know that I will feel better once I get out the door.



More and more I realize how working out has to be a part of my life these days and probably will need to be for the rest of my life. While my ultimately goal is not to see any particular number on the scale, it is just to simply feel good and have my clothes fit.

This year more than I ever, I am so thankful for Fridays. I can't believe how much I look forward to them. The love affair probably started right around the time I found Lauren at From My Grey Desk's weekly link party appropriately called High Five for Friday. It's hard not to associate Friday with great things.

High Five for this Friday because:

1. Two more school days until Thanksgiving Break.
2. Staying up late with the boyfriend watching a tribute to Eddie Murphy. We could quote "Coming to America" for days!

"A-ha"

 3. Made my Christmas list  on Pinterest.


4. I spent more time crocheting with my Grandma this week and let's just say my boot toppers got WAY cuter with the help of a seasoned crochet veteran.

#chickenlegs

5. Recalling one of my favorite Christmas memories. I'm still laughing.

Go check out High Five for Friday and have a great weekend!

I saw this Clorox contest over at Tatertots & Jello and instantly started cracking up as I remembered one of the messiest Christmases my family has ever had.


Every Christmas Eve my mom and dad make this awesome buffet of appetizers and invite my grandma, aunt, and cousins over. About 5 years ago my mom bought a chocolate fountain to add to the spread, along with all sorts of great things to dip in it - marshmallows, strawberries, the works.

After preparing the entire buffet which covered our entire kitchen peninsula, dressed in our Christmas finest, it was time to get out the chocolate fountain.

I don't know how many chocolate fountains you've been around but the way they work is you pour melted chocolate into the base of the fountain, it gets sucked in through an opening that brings it up the inside of the fountain and out to the top where it cascades majestically down in all of its chocolate-y glory.

The key to a successful chocolate fountain is to make sure all the chocolate poured into the fountain is completely melted.

My dad failed to read this part of the directions.

He poured in partially melted chocolate chips. Immediately the fountain went to work sucking the chocolate in through the opening and out through the top. It didn't exactly pour over very smoothly, it was kind of gloppy but with a little bit more chocolate it would work perfectly.

Picture my dad shoving chocolate into the opening when all of a sudden a partially melted chocolate chip got sucked into the opening.

At that very moment, everything went into slow motion. The chocolate chip got wedged inside the motor that carried the chocolate up through the fountain. The top part of the fountain started rocking back and forth (a key detail I have forgotten to mention is that the fountain is in 2 parts, the base and the actual 3 tier fountain just set onto the middle of the base).

Within about 3 seconds the top section of the fountain lifted off of the base, spinning into the air, splattering chocolate over everything in a 10 foot radius.

Did I mention my parents have an open concept living space? The kitchen peninsula divides the kitchen from the living room. So when the chocolate splattered it went all over the buffet of appetizers, my whole family who was standing around spectating the new chocolate fountain, our Christmas tree, the walls, the carpet, everything.

Our first instinct was to scream because what else do you do when chocolate is flying everywhere? After my dad threw himself on top of the fountain and yanked the plug from the wall we all just kind of stood there...staring at one another.

I looked over my mom, who in a panic fled to the adjacent dining room to take cover from the flying chocolate, and started to chuckle.

I mean this was funny.

For a brief moment, my mom wanted to laugh with me. She tried to smile but she had just spent 6 hours preparing a feast for 15 people and it was now covered in chocolate. The tears started to fall.

It couldn't get much worse.

Bing bong!

The doorbell rang no sooner than the chocolate had landed. My aunt and cousins were at the door ready to celebrate. Imagine trying to tell your guests that they couldn't come in because we were trying to contain a chocolate explosion.

Thankfully they joined in and helped us clean up. After we calmed down and saw how absolutely hilarious this all was, it didn't take long for us to get on with the merrymaking.


To this day we still find small, stray pieces of hardened chocolate on our artificial Christmas tree.

It's stories like these that make me love my family and I'm so thankful for that darn chocolate fountain.

I just don't know where I would be without my mother.

Today was one of those days where an hour long conversation just wasn't long enough. She is always there to comfort me when I'm worked up about something or laugh about silly things. I sometimes miss living at home so much but living on my own has made us closer.

I'm so thankful to have the greatest mom ever. She has taught me so much and continues to teach me every single day. Even though I sometimes resist the fact that I am so much like her, I secretly love that.