Liebster Award in the house!

I have been nominated for the Liebster award for my (new) blog! What is this you ask? 

Teachers Desk 6 (one of the three people who have nominated me!) quoted this to explain it:

Liebster is German and means "dearest," "lovely," "cute," "beloved," and "welcome".  What a great word!  Since blogging is about creating community, this award is a fabulous way to spread the word about new blogs.

I couldn't have said it better myself! I have also been nominated by From Tractors to Teaching and by my good (real life!) friend Literacy Spark. I think this is such a cool award because it has allowed me to get to know other bloggers on a personal level since you have to answer so many questions about yourself! The blogs I  am nominating for this award are as follows:

Shining and Sparkling in First Grade

Super Sparkly in Second

Being the Queen Bee Isn't Easy

In The Room...Adventures in Second Grade

Read With Me ABC

To accept this award I must do the following:

1. Link back to the blog that nominated me

2. Nominate 5-11 blogs with fewer than 200 followers

3. Answer the questions posted for you by your nominator

4. Share 11 random facts about yourself

5. Create 11 questions for your nominees- my nominees can pick whichever questions from below they would like to answer! 

6. Contact your nominees and let them know you nominated them 

22 Questions & Answers About Myself: (it should only be 11 but I've been nominated by 3 people...)

1. Do I have any pets?  YES!!!! I have a Boston Terror name Hunter who turned 9 in March, and an English Staffordshire Bull Terror named Duke who will be 9 in November! Once my blog is redesigned I will be including pictures of my little helpers!

2. What grade do you teach? Is this your favorite? I teach SECOND! Considering I only have fourth grade experience (and some preK) to compare it to I will say it is my favorite grade! 

3. Are you a night owl or do you go to bed early even in the summer? During the school year I am in bed before 10pm- some night before 9:30pm! But I try to get up by 6am and get to work by 7am. Over the summer I stay up late and wake up late, though I'm finding as I get closer to 30 it's harder to sleep in past 9am....

4. What's your favorite season? Well, in Houston we only have two- summer & winter (and I use the term Winter loosely!) I LOVE snow and cold weather but probably because I NEVER get it in Houston and have to travel for it...

5. How do you relax? This depends on if it's during the school year or the summer- during the school year I relax by going to Happy Hour! During the summer I am in a constant state of relaxation by doing whatever the heck I feel like doing :) 

6. What is something that you wished you had been taught in college about teaching? This could be an entire blog post...or book...I think I was well prepared in some areas, and definitely not in others- I wish I had been taught classroom management techniques and how important customer service is when dealing with parents. I feel after 6 years of teaching my management has improved tremendously- but I am still lacking in the customer service department when it comes to parents!

7. What is your favorite sweet concoction? Hmmm, I don't have a major sweet tooth but sometimes I will crave peanut butter & chocolate- it could be a Reese's peanut butter cup, peanut butter cookie with chocolate icing, etc. 

8. If you could be a superhero, which one would it be and why? I don't know a lot of super heros and their powers...but I guess I'd like to be able to travel back in time and relive some moments of my life (to make better choices mostly...but also to relieve some awesome experiences I've had!) 

9. If you could learn something new, what would it be? How much time do you have?! I want to become a pro at Photoshop...and with my MacBook...so I can make clip art and awesome graphics...I'd also like to learn the art of speaking your mind at work without getting in trouble (but I don't think that is possible in my district- the higher ups do not like to be questioned...)

10. Do you have children? One day I will have real live children...for now I have my two furbabies and my boyfriend, who is like a child sometimes...and my niece/Goddaughter! 

11. What is your biggest pet peeve? Disorganization and lack of follow through! 

12. What made you start blogging? I started my TpT store and wanted to generate more business and learn how to do more with clip art, graphics, etc. 

13. Name one talent you have. Ummmmmmmmmmm I have become pretty good and closing my mouth during meetings at work lol 

14. What is your favorite subject to teach? I loved teaching math when I was self-contained, but now that I only teach ELAR I like it. But I think ideally in a perfect world I'd want to teach second grade math or maybe fourth grade social studies

15. If you could go on vacation to anywhere in the world, where would you choose? If I wanted to be in a relaxing setting Fiji! But if this was like a once in a lifetime trip I'd say a month exploring Europe!

16. Name one book that has inspired you and why? Men Are From Mars and Women Are From Venus....I read it when going through the ending of a relationship and it was very inspiring when it comes to relationships and dealing with men. The Female Brain was also a good book, and Project Happily Ever After was really good too.

17. What is your favorite TV show? I am a firm believer in NOT watching TV shows where I learn...I learn at work all day long...I want to escape from reality when I watch TV so my guilty pleasure is all the Real Housewives shows....my faves are the OC, Beverly Hills, and Atlanta. But maybe my all time favorite TV show ever is Weeds? 

18. Do you use a MAC or PC? I'm a MacBook Pro girl and have a love/ hate relationship with it...but the longer I have this thing the more I love it!

19. What is your most favorite place to shop for clothes? Banana Republic! 

20. What is one thing you need to learn to become a better blogger? To read other people's blogs everyday! 

21. If you weren't a teacher, what career path might you have chosen? A Psychologist. I've thought about going back to school to do it....this goes back to my super hero power, I would have stuck with Psychology back when I was 20 and changed my major to education....

22. What chore do you hate doing most? Cleaning the toilet because it's so gross, even when it's clean! I'm also really bad about putting my clothes away once they are cleaned. Now that I live by myself I have a bad habit and leaving my clean clothes in the hamper all week and pile my dirty clothes in a corner, and I don't put my clean clothes away until I need my hamper to carry my dirty clothes down to the laundry room.....it sounds super lazy of me! 

Geez...I'm actually getting tired of writing about myself now!!!!

11 Random Facts About Me:

1. I get migraines and can't find a prescription migraine medicine that does not make me feel nauseous/ sleepy/ slur my speech

2. I will NEVER cut my hair shorter than my shoulders- EVER!

3. Shopping is like a drug to me- it's either all or nothing. Right now I'm NOT shopping- meaning avoiding the mall and other clothing stores at all costs, because I cannot go and buy just one shirt or one pair of pants, I have to buy entire outfits, I have to buy anything and everything that fits me good, and I don't check price tags...it's a bad addiction

4. I could eat bacon every single day

5. I could also eat pizza every single day- combine pizza with bacon and I'm in heaven! 

6. I love to cook and have gotten way better at it as I've gotten older

7. I am going to join a Fantasy Football league for the upcoming season!

8. I say I love to run and exercise- and I have good intentions- but I'm actually pretty lazy

9. With that said I signed up for a 5k in September with some girlfriends (who actually are in shape) and so I need to stop being lazy so I can keep up with them during the race!

10. I LOVE color- I don't really have a favorite- but I love color combinations- currently I'm loving orange and turquoise or navy blue and hot pink (and of my boyfriend's favorite color to decorate with is beige- SO boring!)

11. I am constantly thinking about how I think other people see me

12. I am also constantly thinking about how I can improve myself to become the person I want others to see me as

If you actually read through all of that I applaude you! If there are typos it's because I don't feel like proofreading....this blog post has taken me over an hour to write! Now I must rush to be on time to meet friends for lunch...but I know I'll be late (the older I get the later I am...)