The Value of Organization

I have now been to all of my classes and received all of my course syllabuses.   When I went to my first on campus class I will admit I was a bit overwhelmed.  That course alone requires a chapter of reading every week and a paper to go along with it, on top of many other projects and readings.  The class I went to the next night provided a syllabus with same amount of work, if not more projects. After having a mild freak out at the amount of work I will be doing, I decided to get very organized.  I have my google calendar updated with all of my assignments and I have my personal planner color coded by class.  Today I finished all the work I needed to do for my online class this week and tomorrow I will start on my papers due next next.

I guess the key to succeeding in grad school is making the best use of all of your time.  I try to get everything done for school during the day then have time to relax or hang out with friends in the evening.  Last night I was able to cook for my roommates and other friends.  It was a good time and nice to get away from the books.

Other happenings this week include an earthquake!! Yes, we felt an earthquake here in North Carolina.  I was sitting in my living room and first I heard the door rocking like someone was tapping on it.  Then I saw our ceiling fan start to shake vigorously. I really was worried it was going to come off the wall.  So I got up and looked out the window thinking maybe it was really storming.  Then I thought maybe the neighbors upstairs were playing loud music.  Well, I was wrong because my friend Felicia who was in Greensboro called to ask me if I felt shaking.  I turned on the news and then found out that there was a 5.8 earthquake in Virgina.  Here is a picture of a food mart in Mineral, VA where the earthquake was.  

Grad School Begins!

This week marked the first week of Fall classes.  I didn't have any face-to-face classes this week because the semester started on Wednesday and I only have Monday and Tuesday classes. However, my online class did start.  It is called "Organization and Behavioral Management of Inclusive Classrooms."  I'm very interested in learning from this class as behavior issues are the main cause of new teachers wanting to leave the teaching field.  I listened to the first lecture online which was pretty neat.  It is my professor talking as he goes through power point slides.  I don't think this class will be too hard from what I see assigned on the syllabus.  

I've met several really cool people this week as well.  I went to graduate school orientation and then a social on Tuesday which was really fun.  I am really enjoying Raleigh and looking forward to get more involved here.  Just this first week my time has already been limited with tutoring and other things, so hopefully I won't be too bogged down when I really get into my classes.  

Adrienne and I have planned on going to the NC State Fair.  David Nail is going to be in concert there so I am really looking forward to that.  He is probably one of my favorite concert singers.  Here is one of his songs:

A tribute to Lucy

Any of my friends could tell you how big of an "I Love Lucy" fan I am. Lucille Ball was a very smart comedian who I am inspired by.  Her shows didn't need violence, crude humor, or any of the other junk that many shows have today.  Lucy was just purely funny! Today would have been her 100th birthday so here is my tribute to Lucille Ball.

What we can learn from Lucy

Never give up on your dreams, no matter what anyone tells you.  When Lucy was a teenager she enrolled in a theatre and dance school.  They told her she was wasting her money and should give up.  She left the school but eventually went back to looking for an acting job where her first role was as a last-minute replacement.  Of course Lucy dreamed of bigger roles, that with time and hard work she got.

"Love yourself first and everything else falls into line. You really have to love yourself to get anything done in this world."  -Lucille Ball

It is hard to pick a favorite episode but here is part of one of my favorite episodes called "Friends of the Friendless." At the end Ricky sings the I Love Lucy theme song to Lucy!

Exploring Downtown

My best friend Felicia and her husband John came to visit me last week. It was an extremely hot day to be walking around but we still had a great time.  We first went to NCSU and walked around campus.  I showed them the education building and of course stopped in to get some books while I was there.  We then went and ate at an Italian restaurant where they had a special for 2 slices of pizza and a drink for $3.75.  I had to add banana peppers to mine so it was a little more than that, but how can you resist a pizza with banana peppers. The pizza was very good but I'm still waiting to find a restaurant as good as Little Italy in NYC.  After walking around campus  we went downtown to site see.  Our first stop was...a parking spot.  You would think there would be plenty of parking near the State Capital but there wasn't! However, after driving in circles we found a pay by the hour parking lot.  The Capital building was under construction so we only got to see two floors but it did bring back memories from 8th grade.

After visiting the Capital building we went to the NC History museum.  I had forgot I had even been before until I got in there and saw the penny making machine.  It's funny what things bring back memories.  The best  exhibit in the museum was a Civil War exhibit.

 


Once we were finished site seeing we went for some ice cream.  John got a Captain American Slushie while Felicia and I stuck with simple ice cream.  It couldn't have tasted better after the scorcher we had walked around in.  Finally, we ended the day by laying in the pool.  Not my apartment pool because it was closed for cleaning, but nevertheless, we found a pool and enjoyed relaxing for a while! I'm so thankful to have such great friends who would drive so far to come visit me.

Tasty Thursday

I am absolutely in love with the website Pinterest.  If you haven't joined yet, let me know & I will send you an email invite.  It is is a site where you "pin" things you see online that you like to your own boards on the website. You can look at my boards here.  It is a really neat site because you can repin the things you see on your friends board that you might want to try too. I pinned several different recipes and today I decided to try a couple.

The first thing I made was Baked Zucchini with Cheese.

  This was so simple and very tasty.  I took a medium sized zucchini and sliced it into about 1/2 thick pieces.  I sprinkled garlic salt on each one and then baked them in the oven on 350 for 10 minutes.  Then I took them out and sprinkled shredded cheese on each one.  Finally, I put them back in the oven for 3 minutes and then they were done!


While the zucchini was baking I started making Chicken Bacon and Ranch Quesadillas.  I used a tortilla and covered it with shredded cheese.  On half of it I covered the cheese with cooked bacon, cooked chicken strips and some more zucchini that I cooked in a skillet.  Next, I put the tortilla in a skillet on medium heat for about a minute.  I then poured some ranch dressing on the chicken & folded the tortilla in half and cooked it on each side for about a minute and a half.  This was amazing!! My favorite ingredients in one simple dish, couldn't ask for much more.

The finished meal; Tortilla, Zucchini & Banana Peppers. 

I didn't follow the recipes I found on Pinterest exactly but if you would like to then just go to my boards and you can go to the blog that has a more specific recipe.

Fun Decorating Finds

I've been looking for things to make my bedroom a little more decorative.  Of course with starting grad school that means finding things that aren't very expensive. I've been looking at thrift stores or on clearance aisles and have found some pretty neat things.

This is a chalkboard wall sticker.  I use it to write things I need to remember to do. I found this on sale at Kohls for around $7.  It didn't stay on my wall well the first time I put it up so you can see I put white thumbtacks on the sides of it to make it stay. I haven't had anymore problems with it staying up.

This is my wall shelf thus far.  I need to add some greenery or something to the base of it.  I found the flameless candle at Mega Thrift for $1, the green vase for $1.99 at Goodwill and the vase is light blue with white polka dots which I found for $1.50. The flowers I all got on sale at AC Moore and Michaels.

These wall stickers are in my bathroom.  They match perfectly because I have a light blue and lime shower curtain and a hot pink bath rug and hand towel.  These stickers were on sale at Michaels for $1.20 each!  They have a lot of other words you can get in other colors.

This is a wall mirror.  I found it at Mega Thrift for $1.99 and my mom had some artificial flowers that I sat on it to spruce it up some.  The hook at the bottom I will probably use eventually for hanging necklaces on.

Supper Time

Now that I'm settled into my apartment I've been enjoying being able to cook.  Tonight I cooked a really good meal that I thought I'd share.  I first made penne pasta using italian herbs and cheese cooking creme.  All you have to do is boil the pasta, drain the water and put about 3 tablespoons of cooking creme into the pasta.  It's really simple and a different way to eat pasta.  To go in the pasta I also baked some chicken.  I took 2 chicken breasts and seasoned them with Rotisserie Chicken seasoning by McCormick.  I baked the chicken in the oven for 20 minutes on 425.  Then I just cut the chicken into small pieces and mixed it with the pasta.  I love cheese so I also sprinkled a little Parmesan cheese on top. If your not a real cheesy person then the cooking creme probably has enough cheese in it for you.  I really think this is one of the best dishes I have made. It was nice that it didn't require a lot of work or ingredients.

On a side note, I don't recommend Old Paso Tortilla Stuffers.  Yes, they sound good and are a fast way to make tacos, but a quick run to taco bell would be cheaper and taste better.