December Loves of the Month

READING
I am STILL trying to finish The Garden of Last Days by Andre Dubus III.  In my defense it is over 500 pages long and I don't read many pages each night.Thankfully winter break has allowed me to read more so I have less than 100 pages to go.  I already have my new book picked out, Divergent by Veronica Roth. It has recently been made into a movie.  Jason picked it up
during a business trip and wants me to read it next so he can talk to me about it.  I love having a husband who reads as much as I do.

WATCHING
We recently rented Elysium and Meet the Millers.  Both worth watching especially if you love Matt Damon (Elysium) and Jason Sudeikis (Meet the Miilers) as much as I do.  We also re-signed up for Netflix and I have watched all 13 episodes of House of Cards in one week. GREAT show that is only played on Netflix.  Looking forward to season 2 beginning February 14th.

MUNCHING

LOTS of cookies and sweets! Between my annual get together with friends decorating cookies, participating in a cookie exchange, and gifts from students I was on a sugar high most of December.  One thing I always eat in December is oyster stew with summer sausage sandwiches.  It is a family tradition on my dad's side of the family to make this every Christmas Eve.  I have carried the tradition on and this is my 3rd year making it. I actually made it twice this year since we celebrated Christmas with my parents the weekend before Christmas.

LISTENING
I mostly just listened to Christmas music in December.  One of my favorite Christmas songs in Mariah Carey's All I Want for Christmas but I also enjoyed Kelly Clarkson's new Christmas song this year Underneath the Tree.

BEST THING ABOUT DECEMBER
Spending the holidays with my parents for the first time in way too long and of coarse the two weeks off of school is pretty nice.


 

November Loves of the Month

READING
I am still trying to get through all the books on our bookshelf that I have never read. This means I am not super excited about any of the books I am reading so it takes me awhile to get through them.  I am currently reading The Garden of Last Days by Andre Dubus III.  It is okay but way to long so I feel I am never going to get through it.  I am hoping winter break will give me more time to read.
Books I want to read : The Book Thief and I just bought my cousin's book Sylvia Porter: America's Original Personal Finance Columnist

WATCHING
We rented World War Z one night and I wasn't very excited.  I never had any intention of watching it because I have never jumped on the zombie bandwagon. Surprisingly it was not that bad.  It was very similar to Contagion which I really enjoyed.  World War Z is definitely worth checking out.
We also went and saw Hunger Games: Catching Fire.  Jason NEVER likes to go to the theater to watch movies so when he wants to go, I jump at the chance.  We went to the Alamo Draft House which is an adults only dine-in cinema in downtown Kansas City.  Great place that everyone needs to check out.

MUNCHING
Too many sweets!

LISTENING
Say Something by A Great Big World and Christina Aguilera

BEST THING ABOUT NOVEMBER
Spending Thanksgiving with my family.

September: Loves of the Month

READING
I definitely don't read as much when school is back in session.  I try and read every night but sometimes that is only 5 minutes before I start to fall asleep.  I finally finished Little Bee by Chris Cleave.  It was pretty good and I can't believe it took me this long to read it.  It has been sitting on my bookshelf for probably 3 years! I am currently reading The Book Of Dead Days by Marcus Sedgwick. Another book that has been on my shelf for sometime now. It is a Young Adult book that I wanted to see if it was good enough to add to my classroom library.  So far I like it but it might be a little scary for 4th graders.

WATCHING
We did not watch any movies in September.  We didn't think anything looked that good or couldn't agree on something.
September marked the beginning of the new fall season so all my favorite shows finally started back up. They only new show I started watching is The Blacklist.  
We also said good-bye to one of the greatest shows, Breaking Bad. Definitely one of the best series finale episodes.

MUNCHING
Pumpkin Spice Latte's from Starbucks.  Favorite time of year!!

LISTENING
Drake's Hold On

FAVORITE THING ABOUT SEPTEMBER
My Fall themed bridal shower hosted by three great friend!!

July: Loves of the Month

READING: I haven't really read anything blog worthy.  Just reading some easy John Grisham and James Patterson books we have on our bookshelf.

WATCHING:
MOVIES: We recently watched Hitchcock which is about the story of how Alfred Hitchcock's most famous movie "Psycho" was made.  It was a pretty good movie.  We also watched Evil Dead which was definitely not my pick.  I hate scary movies but Jason loves them.  He enjoyed it but I was in and out for most of the movie.

TV:  Just A LOT of reruns of The Hills, 90210, and The Big Bang Theory. 

MUNCHING:
I am OBSESSED with my homemade banana ice cream.  I found the recipe on Pinterest here but made a couple changes.

4 ripe bananas, peeled and sliced into thin rounds
2 tbsp of honey
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 cup milk (the orginial recipie calls for almond milk but whatever milk you use should work}
1 tsp vanilla extract

Place banana slices in the freezer for at least 3 hours.  The original recipe says to place them in a single layer on a tray lined with parchment paper but I just put them in a zip lock bag so I can use for future use. In a food processor pulse frozen banana slices, milk, vanilla and 2 tbsp syrup, scraping down the sides as necessary, until the mixture is the texture of soft-serve ice cream. Spoon into bowls and top with whatever toppings you like.  I use dark chocolate chips and chopped pecans.   I freeze what is ever left.  It stays good except that is is no longer soft-serve ice cream.   

LISTENING
I Want Crazy by Hunter Hayes.  I especially loved it when he sang with Danielle Brandbery on the season finale of The Voice.

All the ladies who came to celebrate

FAVORITE THING ABOUT JULY
I had some great memories of July.  
1. It was my birthday 
2. Jason and I had a great trip to Michigan
3. My co-workers gave me a surprise bridal shower

June: Loves of the Month

Books: The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown.  In college I was hooked on Dan Brown books (Da Vinci Code, Angles and Demons).  On the plane to California last month, I saw his new book, Inferno, everywhere so I decided to read the last book he came out with which was The Lost Symbol.  It was a typical Dan Brown novel with suspense, mystery, and controversial topics.  I especially enjoyed that it took place in Washington DC and talked a lot about all the historical places there.  I love reading about American history and enjoy a good historical fiction book.





Movie: Promised Land and Side Effects  Both great movies on two totally different topics.  Promised Land stars Matt Damon and Frances McDormond as salespeople for a large natural gas company who want to lease and drill on farmland in a small town.  It discusses the effects of this clean, burning fuel on farmland.  Side Effects is a psychological thriller about the effects of taking anti-depressants.  Great movie with so many twists.



TV Most shows have ended for the summer so I don't really watch much during these months. My guilty pleasure, Pretty Little Liars, did start their summer episodes but that is about it.  Jason and I did start watching the series Under the Dome mostly because there is not much else on.  We are both patiently waiting for the August premier of the last season of Breaking Bad.

Eating One of my favorite parts of summer is grilling and one of my favorite foods is a yummy, grilled hamburger.  Jason and I like to experiment with our hamburgers and stuff them with different cheeses or make fun toppings for them.  Yum!!

Music Don't Ya  by Brett Eldredge.  This song just makes me happy when I hear it.  Watch the video here
ViewPure.com is also one of my favorite websites.  I like to show YouTube videos in my classroom but the ads are not always appropriate for 4th graders. ViewPure allows you to create a different link without all the ads. I then store them in my portaportal.com account but that is a whole different topic for another time.

Best Thing About June Definitely my bachelorette party in California!!! Thank you all who made it!