5 on Friday

 



I'm linking up (again) with April, Darci, Christina, and Natasha for Five on Friday. I know I post these all the time, but I just love reading everyone's weekly favorites.

1.

Wedding Weekend

 

I've already posted in pretty great detail about my plans for this weekend here. But I'm so excited about it that I think it deserves mentioning twice. I'm really hoping that one of the venues we're going to tour will be the one for us and then beyond that I'm hoping that we (meaning my parents and I) can actually afford it. Considering I haven't been able to find a new teaching job (or any job for that matter) since moving to South Carolina, all this wedding planning is really stressing me out already. I mean should things honestly cost as much as they do?

  

2.

Birthday

 

Besides all the wedding activities I have planned this weekend, our original purpose for visiting home is to celebrate my little sister Alexis's birthday. She will be 19 on Monday and I can honestly say that she's my very best friend. My parents were so lucky in that they had two daughters who have honestly gotten along their entire lives (with the exception of me meeting her at the hospital and hating her). I can't remember ever having a real fight with her and since she's been taller than me since she was about 12, we've been sharing clothes argument free since 2006 (thanks in part to the rule that if we get something new the person it belongs to has to wear it at least once before it becomes free game). I just saw her this week when I went home for a friend's birthday but I love seeing her. Thanks mom and dad for giving me my Maid of Honor way back in 1994.

 

We had pictures taken of us last year when we were both graduating (me from college, her from HS)as a surprise for our parents, these are two of my favorites:

 



 

I love this one just for the sheer awkwardness of it.

We have a cap tossing picture that actually turned out well, but I love this one so much more because it captures our weirdness.

 

3.

Thirty-One Gifts

 

I am absolutely in love with Thirty-One products. I think I have almost one of every tote bag they've made. When I was teaching, another teacher on my team started selling their products and I went a little overboard buying in an effort to jumpstart her business. Seeing that this is the South, if it's not monogrammed it's not worth having, and with Thirty-One almost everything can be embroidered or monogrammed. I'm digging that. The gift I got my sister this year for her birthday was one of their bags. I think she will love it and I'm so excited to give it to her.

This is the bag I got for my sister, although her's is monogrammed in black thread.

If you're in need of a Thirty-One Consultant, my friend Cathy is awesome. View her website here.

 

4.

Cooking

 

I know this isn't a huge deal and I think cooking is one of those things that you either love or hate. I personally happen to love it and I think that stems from my love of food. I don't think I've ever met a food that I wouldn't love to sit down and eat a ton of (with the exception of paprika which I'm allergic too and raw tomatoes which I think of as the Devil's fruit). However, my love for cooking has waned a bit since I moved in with my boyfriend who is now my fiance. Brad may be one of the pickiest eaters known to man. For the last year, my go to meal has been some form of grilled chicken and a can of green beans. So boring. And we ate out A LOT. In an effort to get back in shape and drop some pounds in time for the wedding, Brad has recently decided to be more adventurous when it comes to food. This means I actually get to use the crock pot (he previously hated his foods touching) and cook vegetables like asparagus. I am beyond excited to start making real meals again and to love cooking again.

 

5.

Job Interview

 

I finally have a job interview (next week). After weeks of searching (maybe months, since I started applying for teaching jobs before I officially moved here) I actually have a job interview. This is technically my second interview since moving. My first was right before I went on vacation at an elementary school here in Greenville. It did not go well, I could tell the principal sort of checked out after reading my resume and seeing that I graduated college in GA, taught in NC, and moved to SC because I might be getting engaged (Brad proposed the next day...) all in a little over a year. The thing is, I'm a fabulous teacher. I'm not saying that because I'm full of myself, it's just that it's the one thing I've felt really talented at and judging by the amount of parents and kindergarteners I still keep in contact with I know I made an impact. Unfortunately, in this economy, principals don't seem to want to take chances and are relying more on very experienced teachers, not us fresh out of college, full-of-life-and-knowledge graduates. Unfortunate, I know. Anyway, Greenville County isn't even hiring substitutes and surrounding counties are broken into districts that may have one elementary school per district. After applying to tutoring centers, public schools, and preschools, I had no luck on the job front. I don't want to say where this job is just yet but I will say that it's not even remotely related to education...

But seriously, isn't this the truth?