Previously on Where the Love was Found...

(I hope you read that post title like Morgan Freeman in the beginning of your favorite TV drama)

SO, as previously stated in my last post, seven months ago, I kinda, sorta want to start doing this thing again, maybe.  But I thought it would be a little strange to just hop right back in like nothing has changed, because just about EVERYTHING has changed!  So, I thought I'd make a quick post on what's been going on in my little life for the past 2.5 years...

• I moved to sunny Florida for a fourth grade teaching position.
• Hated it. Had no friends. Wondered why I ever moved to Florida.  Cried a lot. Drank a lot. BUT stuck it out, because I was determined to whip those mean, sassy children into shape and at least make them slightly better humans. (success)
• Got to know my new city.  Dated some duds. Etc.
• Started teaching second grade at the same school.  MUCH better.  Still sassy, but way cuter and easier to teach.
• Started making new friends. SCORE!
• Finally loving life again.
• Started talking to this handsome, bearded, cat-loving man.
• Then, said handsome, bearded, cat-loving man started seeing someone else and I was basically kicked to the curb. Rude. (Told bearded dude to let me know if it doesn't work out with the other girl because I'll be around ;) )
• Three days later the handsome, bearded, cat-loving man was back and MINE! His name is Michael.
• Fell madly in love with Michael. 
• Began attending church again. Michael's church.  I was very hesitant at first but actually loved it. 
• Traveled to visit family and friends during breaks and on holidays.
• Started renting a house with Michael and our *coughsixcough* cats.
• Began my second year teaching second grade. Loved it even more than the previous year.
• Saved two litters of kittens and found them all homes (including ours...*coughnowwehavesevencough* oops)
•  Made more friends!
• Loved life even more.
• Was invited to go on the trip of a lifetime with Michael and his mama to AFRICA!
• Spent my first Christmas away from my beautiful family (so sad, but it's okay)
• Visited family and friends over summer break.
• WENT TO AFRICA! (pictures to come)
• GOT ENGAGED TO THAT HANDSOME, BEARDED, CAT-LOVING MAN NAMED MICHAEL IN AFRICA!
• Started my third year teaching second grade.

And, here we are.  I am newly engaged and loving life.

In a nutshell, that's pretty much what has happened in my life the past two and a half years.  Life has been pretty darn good. I hope yours has been just as wonderful.

xo

Is anybody out there?!

What if, maybe, juuuuust maybe, I started blogging again?

I've been contemplating for a couple months now whether or not I want to start back up again.  I've been rereading old posts, reading old blogs I used to be obsessed with and getting a little inspired.  It's been almost two years since my last post and SO MUCH has happened in my life since then...


Maybe. Just maybe....

Smiles (V-Day edition)

This is the first Valentine's Day in seven years that I don't have a solid man in my life.

And I'm totally okay with it because there's things like wine, chocolate and cats to keep me company.  Oh and best friends.  I woke up this morning to a buttload of texts and snapchats from the beautiful ladies in my life wishing me a Happy Valentine's Day.  They make me incredibly happy.  

We've been tweeting and texting each other funny valentines for the past two weeks. Here's a little collection of all those silly Valentine's (from @MyValentine on Twitter) that have made me smile this week...

For more laughs, also check out...

Michelle's home made Valentines! | She has a gift!
Ashley's  round up of pop culture Valentines! | The Mean Girls ones are golden

Eli's Valentine's Confession | Hysterical, as usual.

Okay, that wine is not going to drink itself!

Happy Valentine's Day, friends.

xo

BIG news

Hey, friends.  Sorry I've been MIA for two weeks, I've been in Florida (again) and I have some BIG HUGE FREAKIN' GINORMOUS news.

I. Got. A. Job. 

In Florida.

Doing what I love.
Teaching 4th grade.

It all happened so quickly and SO easily.

I flew in Tuesday night, around 7pm, got dinner with my aunt and uncle, was incredibly happy that it was around 70 degrees outside, yadda-yadda-yadda.  The next morning I had a meeting with Osceola's district recruiter at 9:30.  He gave me a mini informal interview and excused himself to make a couple phone calls to the few schools that were hiring at the time. When he came back into the room he asked if I was interested in meeting with one of the schools right now.  My reaction was, "what?! You mean right now, right now?!" He chuckled and said yes and not to worry because I'd be "dynamite." So, I headed over to the school and called my mama semi-freaking out because I thought I'd have more time to prepare for an actual interview.  When I got there the principal, assistant principal and two teaching coaches were ready for me in their conference room.  They asked a bunch of typical teaching interview questions and gave me a few classroom scenarios and what I would do for each.  After they asked me all my questions and I (very) nervously responded, they asked me to give them a few minutes to discuss everything and I went into the office lobby to wait (very impatiently) for their response to the interview.  They called me back in and told me a little about their school and warned me that the class is a little difficult, behavior wise and academically. And then, they offered the job.  I immediately accepted.  I was a little too excited about the whole situation and later thought that I probably should have thought about it a little before accepting and asked some more questions about everything.  But, I was antsy and mega-excited and said bring it on! 

So, there I was, an actual teacher after a short two and a half hours!
And then I had an entire week to relax.  Just about the best Florida trip ever.
I'm a happy girl.


Here's to chasing your dreams!
xo

What I've learned...

Today is the very last day of Toni's New Year Project!! And I'm about to hop up on my kitchen table and do a little dance because IIIIIIII did it!  Of course there were a few days where I was late with posting but I swear to God Almighty that I had already written most of the posts and just forgot to post them. I sweeeaaaaarrrrr! 

Today Toni asks: what have you learned this past month and what are you looking forward to for the rest of the year?

Well, my friends, I've happily learned quite a bit.

1. I can actually complete a challenge (almost, pretty much, for the most part, yeah, I did, guys)

2. Sometimes people seriously suck.  And if those people are bringing you down that much where it's all you think about and it's not only effecting your mood but other people's moods around you...FIX IT AND MOVE ON.  I've sadly let boys stupid actions effect my mood a lot this month and then one night as I was thinking about the whole situation (last Friday to be exact...) I asked myself (while drinking lots of wine) WHAT AM I DOING?! Why am I letting these people that have been in my life such a short while bring me down like this? They're simply not worth it. So I said SAYONARA SUCKERS and moved on.  It was hard at first, but with a little pep talk from my bestie, I was on top of the world.

3. My happiness depends on ME and only ME.  Happiness is a choice.  If I'm feeling miserable there are steps I now take to turn my mood and attitude around.  Sure, other people play a huge role in how happy I am, but in the end, it's all up to ME. And I choose happiness.

4. I need to stop being so conscious of all my flaws and start focusing on how great my life, my attitude and body really is.  I look in the mirror and see love handles, bingo arms, and acne galore when I should be paying more attention to two functioning arms and legs, a noggin with a perfectly stable  and educated mind, a strong heart, a set of lungs and all those other beautiful guts that are in perfect health. I am a perfectly healthy weight for my height, all my senses are in check and working wonderfully, I love my eyes and long legs and I am happy.

5. I am probably one of the most grateful people I know.  Seriously, I hear people complain about the silliest things or get angry over something that is such an easy fix.  Oh, your faucet is leaking? Well, some people don't even have homes to complain about. You forgot to transfer your laundry from the washer to the dryer? Yeah, some people don't even have an extra pair of clothes to wash. Oh, your coffee maker is broken? There are people in this world that don't even have clean water to drink. 

I try take a bad situation and search for the good things that could be found in it.  I remember that everything happens for a reason and some day it'll all make sense. Don't get me wrong, I complain about things too but then I tell myself: THINGS COULD BE SO MUCH WORSE.

I am so grateful that I decided to participate in this challenge this month to get my year started off on the right foot and I can't wait to see what else 2014 has in store for me. 

Happy weekend, friends.

xo

100 Happy Days (1/4) and a letter

Twenty-five days ago I decided to join the 100 Happy Days Challenge. Best decision ever. The challenge is super simple (post a picture of something that made you happy, everyday, for 100 days) and it's mega-rewarding.  I'm obsessed with taking pictures so taking one picture a day isn't difficult for me at all.  And finding something that made me smile, even after a super crappy day, is usually pretty easy (and it's usually one of my cats or the sky...).  I'm a quarter of way through the challenge and haven't even almost missed a day.  Being happy and grateful and finding things in my every day life that I'm thankful for has become a way of life for me.  And I couldn't be happier.

Here's what I've been happy for the past few weeks...

Happy thinking. Happy heart. Happy attitude. Happy life.

Follow along here.

__________________________

Second to last day of The New Years Project (!!!) says:

Write a letter to your future child on what you've learned about happiness.

Hey kiddo,

It's your mama. I'm only 23 and you are nowhere on my radar screen yet but I already know I will love you with all my heart...maybe even more than Bruno, but let's not push it right now. I'm here to tell you about a little thing called happiness.  You need to know that being happy didn't always come easy for me. I used to be unhappy with my life, my relationships, my body, a lot of things really.  I got pretty damn good at pretending I was okay, but deep down, I was miserable.

Then I met a boy that completely changed my life, in the best way possible.  He showed me what love really felt like and how a man should treat a lady. He showed me what happiness truly was.  We sadly grew apart but he'll forever remain in my heart as a very special and important person in my life.  I hope to God you'll find someone just as special as he was to me.

During and after our relationship, I also started loving myself, my life and those around me.  I became closer to my friends, made more friends and kind of blossomed in a small way.  I realized that if you just stay positive, your life can take a drastic turn for the absolute better. A positive attitude leads to a positive life.  

Happiness to you, as a child, may be waking up on Christmas morning and unwrapping a bunch of gifts or getting a cell phone fresh out the womb (kidding, you're not getting one until your in high school, sorry not sorry) or maybe happiness is simply getting your way.  And that's okay, little one, because eventually you'll learn that material things aren't the only thing that can make you extremely happy.  Don't get me wrong, I used to be the same way. I loved getting new toys, clothes, a new phone, etc. but as I grew up, I've learned that happiness can be found in the simplest of places.  Whether it's in the soft tickle of a kitty's whiskers on your face, the first signs of Spring, watching a sunset or sunrise alone, receiving a smile from a stranger, or your favorite song coming on the radio.  

I just want you to know that happiness can be pretty darn easy to find, if you simply look at the right things, in the right way. Open your mind and your heart.  Be confident and brave.  Follow your dreams.  Love everything that God has given you. 

Oh, and don't do drugs. 

Love, mama bear

xo

She brings out the best in me...

Who brings out the best in you? 

Easy. My best friend Anne.

She has stuck with me and has been my very best friend through the hardest and most fun (because of her) years of my life.  We met on our very first day of classes at college, a Monday night class called Music, Play with Yourself....or something like that (It was actually called Music, Play and Self...but for obvious reasons we changed the name...because we're super mature, that's why).  Anne stalked me from my dorm building all the way to the classroom door. It was a very awkward walk because I wasn't positive of where I was going and I had some creeper smile at me every time I turned around to see if she was still following me. Once I got to the classroom, the professor still wasn't there and the room was locked and the other students were sitting on the floor so I popped a squat and who sits next to me? That smiley creeper that followed me all the way there!!! And immediately she beamed and said, "Hi! I'm Anne!" I'm pretty sure I gave her the most terrified look and stammered out a "uhhh..yo no hablo ingles!" I'M JOKING, although I'm semi-convinced she wasn't even originally in that class.  Pretty sure she just followed me there and begged the professor to stay so she could become my future lesbian lover...Well folks, it totally worked. 

Since she asked me out on our first date (to see some Batman movie with my ex as a third wheel...AWK) we've been inseparable. I can't even count how many times I've flat out sobbed from laughing so hard with this little lady.  I owe all my sanity and good times in college to her.  

Since we graduated we don't see each other too often with our busy work schedules and what not but when we get together... Wo0oOo baby, world! WATCH OUT!

She's always been there for me, no matter the distance. We snapchat (obv, who doesn't?) all day and she's always sending me hilarious memes and links that make my entire week.  

She knows all my secrets, lets me vent all my ridiculous problems to her without judgement and 110% supports and encourages me in absolutely everything I do.  She means the world to me and I honestly wouldn't be the person I am today without her amazing presence in my life.

I love you, Anne.  

I thank God every day for your awesome stalking abilities ;)

Thanks for bringing out the best in me.

xo