Le Sigh

Trying to be positive ... but sometimes there just has to be a moment where I step back and ... sigh


Some things I can't help but sigh over

• the snow ... le sigh ... generally I am team snow's #1 fan! but not almost in April ... sorry team snow I'm a front runner and only appreciate you in December and January ... now go away
• senate bill 5 ... le sigh ... why do we think teachers aren't important? why are we trying to make it impossible for them to live off their own salaries? why are we attacking unions? this happened once before ... back in the McCarthy era ... he turned out to be crazy.
• not having a job ... le sigh ... besides the obvious money issues ... I just want to teach and I'll be damn good at it ... why is that so much to ask?
• ketchup keys ... le sigh ... I got ketchup on my phone ... dammit why am I such a mess

I'll try to stop my sighing tonight and bring some positivity your way tomorrow!


But for now remember sometimes it is ok to step back and think *Le Sigh* 

Wonderful Wednesday

What I'm loving Wednesday:

The smoothie I had on the way to work

The amount of reading I'm getting done (I'm almost done with this)

That I have the finale of the Miami Housewives saved for me to watch later this week

That at least it was sunny for a couple days in a row

"Be the change you wish to see in the world" ~ Gandhi

Food for Thought

Proud to be an Elizabeth

I've never not liked the name Elizabeth and just because I don't often go by it, doesn't mean I don't wear it proudly.


This week I found myself taking overt pride in my name once again thanks to this fabulous, amazing, one-of-a-kind woman

                                                “I've always admitted that I'm ruled by my passions.”

                                                                                 "Big Girls Need Big Diamonds"

                                                              "I have a woman's body and a child's emotions"


Love her or hate her ... she is one of kind ... and the ultimate depiction of a survivor
                                                            "I've been through it all, baby, I'm mother courage."


Thank-you Elizabeth for making me proud once again to be a part of the Elizabeth name club and for reminding me what it really means to go through big hardships and bounce back with meaning. You will be missed.


"I'm a survivor - a living example of what people can go through and survive."
                                   R.I.P Elizabeth Taylor

*5 yrs.*

Today, 5 years ago, I walked into this hole in the wall bar called the Voodoo and met the the love of my life. When I saw him up on stage with all that hair playing the bass, I was a gonner.  I fell for him instantly and have fallen deeper and deeper in love with him every day since that moment. 

After almost a year of dating on my 19th birthday :)

and now ... almost 5 years later ... on my 23rd birthday :)


"I've earned through hope and faith
on the curves around your face
that you're the one I'll hold, forever"
~ Coheed and Cambria
The first band I ever heard in his car and the first band we ever saw in concert :) 


I love him and I couldn't imagine life without him ...Happy 5 years my handsome, cute, adorable, amazing boy

What I'm Loving Wednesday

On the way to work this morning I loved me a Mickey D's breakfast sandwich 

yep ... look at all that cheese and grease ... no wonder I'm slightly heavier than I should be ... but these things are my weakness


p.s. it doesn't make me the fat kid in class to have two post dedicated to Mickey D's ... or at least that's what I'm telling myself

I'm sure your other more organized, more responsible mommy does not have to take clothes out of the hamper

My dog is judging me again ... every time I go to grab something out of the hamper he gives me his "mom, really?" look and I want to say, "look, you get freaking hair all over everything so I have to throw it in the hamper, but sometimes it can be worn again." Now, before you think I'm a total pig ... I think it is totally acceptable to hamper dive for jeans or workout clothes ... everything else off limits ... so don't go judging me like my dog. Why would I want to wash 5 pairs of workout clothes every weekend if I'm just gonna sweat in them and then shower? So, instead, to my dog's dismay I pull them out of the hamper and wear 'em again ... this is normal isn't it?

This is his judgement face ... always reserved for me ... never his dad ... why is that?

MMMM Shamrock Shake

Happy Almost St. Patty's day everyone ... if you can't have any green beer I recommend having a delicious Shamrock Shake ... get 'em while they're hot ... or until Mickey D's removes them from the menu

Terrific Tuesday ... NOT

So ... I know there are huge problems in the world and trust me I feel feel feel for Japan ... I can't imagine and I'm sending all my thoughts, prayers, love, and whatever else I can to them ... but today I did not have a good day and I need to bitch.


My problems are insignificant ... but did you ever wake up one day and realize you don't recognize this life? Friday I will be 23 ... I will turn 23 without a real job, living at home, with no solid future in sight. I will turn 23 proctoring tests in a school that I would sell my soul to have a real job in, but alas I am just a sub. I will turn 23 with acne on my face and weighing the most I ever have in my life. I'm wallowing in self-pity and I know it's unattractive ... but out it had to come.


Blink 182 said it best ... "Nobody likes you when you're 23" ... I need to work on this. 

"I should come with a warning label"

Day 30: A picture


Ok ... I'm going to be a cheater cheater pumpkin eater and finish this challenge off doing two posts in one day ... oh and if anyone wants to know why I'm up and blogging so early ... Welcome to the life of a substitute or an insomniac ... depends on what day you catch me.


Anyhoo ... Have you ever heard of Anne Taintor? She's the fabulous designer that uses those old 50's girls pictures and then puts hilarious sayings with them, that are so dead on and inappropriate that they're funny. I love her! Sometimes I wish I was her and other times in my dream world I am her ... not creepy at all ... moving on.


This one is my favorite

So. Absolutely. Me. ha, but really I would like to think this highly of myself :) and I'm going to start trying to think that highly of myself today and forever ... this should last about another hour.


WOOT I'm done ... of course now I don't have someone telling me what to write ... I might not have thought this through.

“I have heard there are troubles of more than one kind. Some come from ahead and some come from behind. But I've bought a big bat. I'm all ready you see. Now my troubles are going to have troubles with me!”

Day 29: 3 wishes 


How freaking awesome would it be to have a genie? To find a lamp and out pops this entity that is going to grant you three wishes, that would probably be the greatest thing ever. Of course when I picture my genie it is not miss I Dream of Jeanie it is Mister Blue Genie from Aladdin :) Who doesn't love Aladdin? Who didn't totally want a white tiger and a monkey and a genie after watching that movie? It's like every little kids dream!


Anyways, so Mister Blue Aladdin Genie shows up and I get three wishes ... awesome ... here's what I would wish for


1. For my family's and my debt to be completely erased. I would not wish for us to have unlimited funds or to just win a bunch of money, I just want us all to be able to begin with a clean slate. No school loans, no hospital bills, no emergency water or heating bills, no house payments ... can you picture it? I can and we're definitely a more relaxed bunch, to say the least. And when I say family I mean my whole extended lot ... I want to be happy and I want my family to be happy and all too often are days start and end with the worries of money, as do many other families I'm sure, and it makes for a stressful day.


2. Ok, selfish alert! But really if you have three wishes will you really not use at least one of them just on you? I would wish for a teaching job at one of the schools I dream of teaching at one day. I don't need a pile of money handed to me or a life of luxury ... I would get bored. I want to work and I'm desperate to teach ... so if Mister Blue Aladdin Genie can just get me in the door, I'll do the rest. :)


3. To end world hunger and poverty. Now, I know this seems like two and therefore it would be cheating, but if you think about it they are one in the same thing. You always have hunger if there is poverty and vice versa. If my family gets to start off with a clean slate, then the world should have the same chance. It kills me to know people go to bed and wake up hungry and if I was famous this is what I would be trying to fix. Let's just take all the money we spend on war and nuclear weapons and politics and feed the people, and then give them the ability to feed themselves.


Hey ... who realized I'm almost done with this challenge? Thank goodness ... this has been rough.

“Stress is nothing more than a socially acceptable form of mental illness”

Day 28: Something that stresses you out


I'm a worrier ... so what stresses me out? umm just about everything ... this is why I constantly repeat the above quote ... so I can trick myself into thinking I'm really normal.


At the moment the one big thing stressing me out is not having a job and the worry that I'm never ever going to find one. Yeah, I'm neurotic ... I like to not only worry about the present, but the past, and the future as well. All I want to do is teach ... so, ignoring SB5 and the fact that teaching jobs are falling apart ... I still desperately want to teach and I'm so afraid it's never ever going to happen :( I try to tell myself everything that's meant to be finds a way or that everything happens for a reason ... but after 7 months of subbing, the positivity is just about DONE-ZO ... ugh now I might be even more stressed out.

“A dog is the only thing on earth that loves you more than he loves himself.”

Day 27: Pets

My Furry Babies <3

My Men :) The loves of my life ... My life wouldn't be complete without you two

“There is no doubt that it is around the family and the home that all the greatest virtues, the most dominating virtues of human society, are created, strengthened and maintained” ~Winston Churchill

Day 26: A picture of your family 


family means so many things to me ... I couldn't just pick one picture ... I'm a rule breaker ... a devil without cause ... deal with it

This is the original Herchek 5 plus our two furry add ons :) These people are my rock ... this is my immediate family ... the ones I rely on and they never let me down

This is my newer family ... the man that I love and our furry baby :) ... coming home to them is the best thing at the end of the day

cousins :) life without them wouldn't be right 

my sisters of the heart :) They complete me 

Randolph Beach and College Family :) my oxygen


family is what you make it ... I am blessed to have an amazing God given family but also an amazing friend made family :)

“Music is what feelings sound like.”

Day 25: put your ipod on shuffle ... first ten songs


I was nervous about this day because I was sure that when I did this every single one of my guilty pleasures would show up and I would have to put my severe embarrassment out in the blogoshpere ... but alas I actually think my ten songs show my multifaceted personality (or what I would like to think is multifaceted) here they are:


1. "All I Want for Christmas is You" ~Mariah Carey :) I adore Christmas music and would listen to it everyday if people didn't think that was strange


2. "ABC's" ~Gift of Gab my boyfriend turned me onto them ... this is what would be considered a rap group but not your typical rap that people listen to ... their lyrics are actually inspiring


3. "Summertime" ~Kenny Chesney guilty pleasure alert! I can't help it there are times in the summer when I need some country music to soothe my soul :)


4. "A to G" ~Blackalicious another "rap" group ... I guess more hip hop really ... that my boyfriend turned me onto ... this is a free style letter rap and it is awesome


5. "I Need you Now" ~Lady Antebellum yeah I jumped on this band wagon, I can't help it I loved belting this song with my friends :)


6. "I Wanna Lick You" ~Ludacris who can live without some Ludacris in there lives? ha


7. "Never Gonna Give You Up" ~Rick Astley haha talk about dirty pleasures ... oh well I love it especially that my friends and I can sing every word to it :)


8. "The Business" ~Yung Berg yep I love some traditional rap too


9. "Alice" ~Avril Lavigne I love Alice in Wonderland the old and the new one 


10. Roadside ... that's the band I'm not sure of the song name ... this is the first band my boyfriend was ever in :) he was in it when we met ... I will always love them.

"Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living" ~Dr. Seuss

Day 24: Something You've Learned


Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss!!!!!
“I like nonsense, it wakes up the brain cells. Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living, It's a way of looking at life through the wrong end of a telescope. Which is what I do, And that enables you to laugh at life's realities.” ~Dr. Suess


I have learned that everything serious I ever needed to learn about life I learned in Grade School through Dr. Seuss. He taught me how to count, how to rhyme, how to be silly, the real meaning of Christmas, not to judge others on their appearance, that people that may seem different are really just like me on the inside, and many many other lessons. His words of wisdom he left behind are still teaching me things today ... but mostly that I need to look at life for what it is and still be able to smile. 


And often to be able to do this reading Green Eggs and Ham is recommended :) 

"Thus, the past is part of the present as long as the other person lives. It is better than any scrapbook, because you are both living scrapbooks.”

Day 23: Favorite Vacation

I haven't been a lot of places and haven't taken a lot of vacations ... when your Mom and Dad both work in schools and there's three kids and animals long, expansive vacations aren't realistic. We did, however, used to go and stay weeks with my Grandma and Grandpa out at their campsite. We would go boating, swimming, the adults would ski, and we would stay in their motor home. When we were a little older we would be able to alternate weeks and go stay with our Grandparents all by ourselves for our own personal vacation :) I would give anything to have that time back. A time where there were no worries and relaxation wasn't looked at as wasteful, but part of the trip. A time when we were all still together, when my Grandpa wasn't sick and was still with us, and we all still lived at home. I loved those weeks at the lake "camping" in the motor home :) and hope that maybe I'll get to do it again with my kids someday.

p.s. I would like to thank my Grandpa for ensuring that I would never actually camp ... like with a tent and the ground and no bathroom ... eww ... thanks for spoiling me Papa :)