Laughing Lindsay

That’s right. Ever since I started this semester, I feel like I’ve been going non-stop. I’ve been in the classroom for almost two weeks now and am exhausted by it. Those kindergartners look cute. However, there is NEVER a free/dull moment. I do get a 25 minute break for pe. However, that’s about all we get. Between doing lesson plans (which might I add have to be very detailed and are too time-consuming, if you ask me) and actually being at the school, I hardly have time to sleep or breath. I mean I’m doing well to get in 1-2 workouts per week right now. I’m hoping to get faster at these lesson plans so I can get some time to myself.

I just wanted to post a quick update to let everyone know why I’m more M.I.A. these days. I am reading and trying to respond to emails. However, it takes me a couple of days usually. I’m trying to stay up-to-date with lesson plans and ahead on blogging. So far, so good. However, I haven’t yet completely taken over the classroom. So, it may get worse before it gets better. But, we’ll see. I’m trying not to get too stressed out about everything right now.

Please leave me some good vibes or suggestions for relaxation that require minimal time in the comments. Or, perhaps a link to something to funny?

I don’t know about you, but I had to read To Kill a Mockingbird in high school. We also watched the classic film. Can you believe that it’s the 50th Anniversary of it? To celebrate, a special 50th Anniversary edition of the movie will come out at the end of this month. To get you in the mood to watch it, I thought I’d share a clip of the film, called Scout Defends Atticus.

What do you think? Are you planning on purchasing a copy of the Anniversary edition? Have you seen this classic film before?

Disclosure: I received nothing for posting this. The opinions expressed are my own.

Wow! Where has the time gone? Today at 8:30 am my last semester of college officially began. This last semester is different from the previous semesters. For starters, I will be student teaching this semester. I will have two placements. One of those has to be in kindergarten (which I didn’t pick as I don’t really want to teach at that level, however the college is making me do it) and the other will be either middle school or upper elementary. The first 10 days of the semester will be spent on campus going over stuff for teaching. This includes a teaching of social studies and writing class as well as preparing other things for (student) teaching. I believe we have to go over things like behavior management, our own teaching philosophies, etc. After that, I will be in the school with mentors and teaching/observing.

The other main difference about this semester (besides it being my last) is that I am living at home. Since I will have to be on campus on only Monday nights for seminar, I realized that I could save thousands of dollars just by living with my parents for a semester. I hope this isn’t a mistake as my hometown tends to get snow when nowhere else does. Also, that means I won’t have a dorm room to myself anymore and have to actually deal with other people (my parents) and their schedules.

Both student teaching and living at home means that there will be changes in my schedule. I’m going to try my best to continue posting at least once a day. However, I make no guarantees. I’ve got every intention of blogging for at least another 1-2 years. I just don’t know if it will be like it has been. Granted, I don’t post as often as many other bigger bloggers do. So, you may not even notice the transition or changes. I just wanted to make my readers aware of the new things going on in my life as I’m sure it will get hectic pretty soon. Heck, it may already be that given that I am writing this post ahead of time and will be sitting in a classroom when this goes live.

So, do you have any advice for me? How about some good luck vibes?

Disclosure: Nothing was received for this post. This is just a post on my life. The opinions expressed are obviously mine.

I spent New Year’s Eve relaxing with my boyfriend. One of the things we did was watch tv. While doing so, we came across the Moonshiners TV Show on the Discovery Channel. Now, you know I’m not a drinker. I am 22, so I’m old enough to do so. However, it’s just not something that I’m into (I don’t care for the taste of it). So, that’s not what got my attention.

What made me stop was that the show takes place almost literally in my backyard. You see, I live in Southwest Virginia. I never disclose exactly where I live because I don’t want stalkers. Haha! However, I was surprised to see images of maps on the show where I live! This was the first time I had seen a show on national television filmed in this area. The season finale airs tonight (January 4th) at 10 pm. So, I thought I’d take this opportunity to discuss it on here.

For starters, I didn’t need the subtitles when people such as Popcorn were talking. I guess it’s from where I grew up in this dialect because I could understand him and other characters on the show without issues. Secondly, the show does make it seem like everyone in the area is either making and/or drinking moonshine. However, I can say that this definitely isn’t so. I have never had any nor have I witnessed anyone make any. If I know anyone that makes any, they haven’t told me.

Another topic I’ve seen posted about the show is the realness of it. You see, it shows Tim Smith making moonshine on television. However, there is debate about if he is really making it or not. Seeing as how I’ve never seen this prior to the show, I have no idea. I will say that it is certainly more fun to believe that it is real when viewing it. I did find the Tim Smith interview on Bourbon Blog to be interesting as he did answer several questions about the show and moonshine. Here is a promo clip for the show.

I will say that I like and approve of the opening music choice. So, I’m just curious. Have you watched any episodes of Moonshiners? What did you think of it? Do you believe it’s real or not? Let me know what you think in the comments below.

Disclosure: I received nothing for this post. I just thought it was an interesting show. The opinions expressed are my own.

After doing my looking back on 2011 post, I realized I didn’t set any goals or recognize some of my accomplishments from this year. So, I thought I’d do another post for it.

Last February, I did my first post announcing that I wanted to get healthy. I’m happy to report that I have managed to do just that in 2011. I have been working out consistently since the beginning of the spring 2011 semester. I even got to begin my Nutrisystem diet. Over the course of 2011 I managed to lose a total of 30 pounds! Woot! I’m very proud of that as this is the first time I’ve done this in a healthy way. I would like to lose some more weight in 2012. At the very least, I would like to maintain my current weight.

I feel like it’s worth mentioned my accomplishments and goals for college. I finished my fall 2011 semester with a 4.0 GPA! Yay for that! It was rough at times, trying to keep up with classes and blogging and all. However, I did it! I am going to be student teaching in a few weeks and hope to graduate in early May of 2012. So, my goals consist of doing well in student teaching, graduating, and finding a job teaching special education after that.

I had always wanted the opportunity to travel for the blog. So, Green Giant helped me accomplish this goal that I never thought would really occur in 2011. I would love to do that again in 2012.

Those are all of the goals and successes I can think of right now. What were your successes for 2011 or goals for 2012?

Disclosure: Nothing was received for this post. I did this for fun.

I did a list of my favorite posts of 2010 to ring in 2011. So, I thought I’d be a little more timely this time and look back at the year that is almost over (which I don’t understand where it went) – 2011!

One of the goals I set for the blog for 2011 was to do more personal posts and I think I did a better job of that. Here are some of my favorites.

* List of things I’m thankful for
* Merry Christmas post
* My Halloween jack-o-lanterns post
* 10 Holiday Planning tips
* College Packing List
* Tips for Flying at the Atlanta Airport
* My first tutorial – How to Know if Someone Has Hacked Your Yahoo Email
* When Are You Getting Married
* Highly Paid Teachers
* World Kidney Day 2011
* Tips for Winning Blog Giveaways
* Declaration of Independence Music Video Spoof
* Shift Happens Video

How could I do a recap of 2011 and not mention my fabulous Green Giant Valley Visit? These are some of my favorite posts on it, but you can view them all at the category page linked above.

* Holiday Greetings from Green Giant
* My Green Giant Valley Visit
* What I Learned on the Green Giant Valley Visit

Some other review/giveaway posts that I thoroughly enjoyed include:

* Bake Me A Wish Cake Giveaway
* My entire Cupcake Event
* Viva la Vera Bradley Review
* Epson Artisan Printer Review
* Nutrisystem Diet Journey

Wow! It looks like I had a fabulous 2011 as far as blogging was concerned. I have my readers and followers to thank for that. Without y’all, I wouldn’t be able to do any of this. So, thank you all. I hope you have a wonderful 2012.

Disclosure: I received nothing for this post. I just wanted to look back at 2011 for the fun of it.

I hope you enjoyed the holiday gift guide this year. I got to feature lots of fabulous products from several lovely brands. It was fun getting to learn about all of those brands and trying out the items (for me). I hope you enjoyed learning about them and getting the chance to win them.

Today is Christmas, which is the holiday I celebrate at this time of the year. Merry Christmas to all of my readers and followers! I hope you take the time today to be with family (as I will be doing) and eat something good. Perhaps, even open a good present. I’m taking today off from the computer to enjoy the holiday and I hope you’ll understand.

Also, I hope that this post doesn’t offend any of my readers who may not celebrate Christmas. If you celebrate another wonderful holiday, then I sincerely hope you enjoy it as well.

Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you will take time away from the computer to eat a meal with family today. I am eating two meals today – lunch with my boyfriend’s family and dinner with mine. I noticed several people doing a separate post everyday for the past several days listing something they were thankful for. So, to celebrate the day, I thought it’d be fun to create a list of things I’m thankful for.

1. Cupcakes – need I say more?
2. Good Friends
3. A wonderful family who loves me and is there for me
4. This blog
5. My awesome readers
6. The opportunity to gain a great education at a little liberal arts college
7. Technology that allows me to do many wonderful and fun things
8. Coffee that wakes me up in the morning, keeps me going, and warms me up
9. My intelligence
10. My planner
11. Erasers
12. Good movies
13. Comfortable shoes
14. Umbrellas
15. Good books
16. Good music
17. My wonderful boyfriend
18. My awesome parents
19. Turkey rings found on top of # 1
20. Electricity
21. Penguins
22. Dolphins
23. Cell phones
24. My car to get me from college to home to enjoy the holidays
25. All of the people I have met or come in contact with thanks to this blog
26. Water
27. Lip gloss
28. Lotion
29. Socks
30. Good food

Wow! I realize that is a really random assortment of things. However, it was fun to create. So, what are some things you are thankful for?

Disclosure: Nothing was received for this post. I just wanted to share what I’m thankful for today.