Winter Break and How I Realized That I Like My Life.

Portland. Sigh. So pretty. 

My family now has 21 people in it. That is a whole lot of people. This is what happens when you are the youngest of five children, and all of your siblings are married/have children. Those Mormons, I tell ya. T Money and I went home to Oregon for Winter Break and spent time with all of these hilarious, crazy, ridiculously good looking people.

I won't beat around the bush: being home was hard. I love Portland. I love the Northwest. I love the air that I breathe when I get off of the airplane. I love the green trees and the long walks that I get to take with my mother. I love the Oregon Coast and Mt. Hood. I love the memories that come back when I am there. But, it's just hard. I realized the other day that it marked seven years since I had moved to Utah. I now officially call Utah home. Which is weird. I love Utah. I love the mountains and the weather and my life here. My life is HERE. And I think that was part of the problem. When I was in Oregon, it wasn't my home.  I didn't have my adorable brick home and my own bed; I missed my doggy because she wasn't with us. I missed my own separate LIFE. I felt micro managed by my parents and fights happened between sisters. It was hard.


But, it wasn't all bad. I love being around family.  I loved staying up until 3 AM playing Cards Against Humanity with my siblings and laughing so hard I nearly peed my pants. I loved going on walks with my mom in the forests. It's a catch-22. I want to be around my nieces and nephews and brothers and sisters. I don't live near most of my family so it is fun to catch up, but then I am also reminded how different I am from them. While lying there one night, I remember thinking: "We were all raised by the same people?" It's almost like you didn't know it in some regard. Maybe I am like my nephew, Dane, when he says "I Don't like nobody." See the hilarious video here. 


I love my family. I am grateful for their example and love. Every family has their dysfunction. But, I guess, what I'm trying to say, is that I love my life. I like what I do day in and day out. And I like doing it in my own way. I don't like being told what to do or not do or to be judged so harshly by those around me.

I am proud of who I am, despite the challenges that I am faced with, physically and financially and emotionally. I struggle every day. I am not perfect. I am an adult when I am on my own and in my life. I feel like a teenager when I am with my whole family; I revert back to being the youngest child. Does that make sense?

Anywho, this post is all over the place. I apologize.
Overview: I love my life. I love visiting Oregon. Families are wonderful and complicated all at the same time. All is well.

While in Oregon, T Money and I took a mini escape to Cannon Beach, one of my favorite places. It was cold, rainy and gross in Portland, but the beach was BEAUTIFUL and not windy at all, which made it completely splendid. It was cold, but not near as cold as the city. I walked along the beach and saw all of the dogs and missed my Saylor girl. I had my hot cocoa and dreamed of living along the Oregon Coast. It was a perfect day and I couldn't stop taking pictures, as I'm sure you all saw from my Instagram last week.

My nieces and nephews made me laugh a whole lot. It is so fun to celebrate Christmas with the excitement of little children. And it helps that they are all so freaking adorable.

Papa is slightly obsessed with my niece, Wembley. She is the FUNNIEST and cutest little girl. 

Nephew. All of the heart eyes. 

Tanner was a huge hit with my sisters' boys. They wouldn't leave him alone. He's definitely the favorite. So not fair. 

And then, there are just pretty pictures of Oregon (so gorgeous!).

Meanwhile, my brother in law in Utah sends me this photo of Saylor loving her life in the million feet of snow. Ha! 

I love the open fields and wide open spaces in the outskirts of Portland. Lots of beautiful land! 

But I also love downtown Portland. Such a historic, beautiful, clean city. 

Winter Break was good. And now I want it back. I am waking up every morning with a horrible cold that my husband and students gave to me....welcome back to reality. This is a hard week, the first week back after Winter Break. Its cold, dreary, everyone's tired and sick and it's just one of those months. But we can do it! I got this, guys.
Happy January. Here comes a month of beautiful snow, and hopefully a lot of skiing (see, I turned that around made it positive. Boom.)

Student Christmas Gifts!

Please enjoy my exquisite photography skills with my iPhone. 

This year, I have a class full of seventeen boys. Yes, seventeen 11 and 12 year old boys. Any appreciation is more than welcome. I won't beat around the bush, it has been a challenging year. My students are so intelligent, fun, enthusiastic, but I am quite exhausted after a day of work. As my student yelled out (yes, they "word vomit" a lot) "This is why no one has twenty five children!"

 I laughed. Exactly. And people wonder why I don't have children yet. 

I always like to give my students a little holiday gift. Now, I teach in area where I know that all of my students celebrate Christmas. If this wasn't the case, I would not do a hand out of just Christmas, but rather, a holiday gift. This was very simple and my students LOVED it. They were so excited to get a Sprite and a cute handout with it for Christmas.  

Boom. Easy. Love it.  

I made this cute little hand out on Photoshop. I am too tired (literally cannot even keep my eyes open right now. Last day before Winter Break--praise the Almighty!) to upload it here, so if you want it, shoot me an email! 

Love, Mrs. C

(because my last name is so stinkin' long!) 

What are some of your favorite gifts that you have given to your students?

What are some awesome gift ideas that you have seen teachers give? 

Christmas Style: Jacket!

I am linking up with Danica today for her "Twelve Days of Christmas Outfits". I wish I was more on top of it to participate in all Twelve Days of Outfits, but, alas, my life is not that in order, especially with the craziest week of the year in my 6th grade classroom. Please, dear blog readers, let's hope that I will survive this week. Say a prayer for me. I am on a fashion roll, apparently, too. So, I guess I'm just going to become a fashion blogger. HA.

No, but, as much as I love clothes, I love writing. I just love it all? I'm a hippie. Don't judge.

Oooookay, today's holiday outfit is a fun jacket. It is the comfiest thing in the world, and plus, it is a little bit "Christmas-y" color. I throw it on over some leggings or black pants and shazam: cute, comfortable, Christmasy outfit (ten points for alliteration!). Who doesn't love that?

Also, See my other awesome (ha!) How We Wore It and Fashion Posts below:

Holidays (HWWI)
Fall Transition (HWWI)
Keepin' It Casual (HWWI)

Pleated Skirt  (HWWI)

Vest It Up (HWWI)

Top 10 Reasons Why I Should Be a Fashion Blogger! 

Flowers & Dresses! 

Puppies & Dresses

White Plum

Pictures shall do the talking now.

Winning. 

I don't understand this face?

And, that's a wrap. 

"So, Like, What's Been Going On?"

A friend tweeted me the other day… "So, like what's been going on? I haven't read a post from you in forever and I miss your words."
Sigh.
I mentioned yesterday that there are a plethora of reasons for why I have been MIA from the blogging world. But, I guess, in all reality, it doesn't really matter, does it? I am now posting and that's the important thing, you could say.

Update on my life. Wow. Where do I even begin?

Christmas Break was fantastic. I did exactly what title of the holiday entailed…I took a definite break. I checked out from anything that I, essentially, did not have to do. I did not go into my classroom, I did not blog, and I did not grocery shop of any manner. Ha! I spent a wonderful week sleeping in, going to the gym, finishing up our Christmas Cards, and spending quality time with my puppy and T Money.  In all truthfulness, I was sort of recovering from my play and teaching the whole break. It was nice to not have rehearsal every day! Haha. My Christmas Break was very low key. We went and looked at lights, saw movies, and did fun, easy, cheap Christmas activities.  It was my first Christmas away from my family and with the in laws. I have to admit, I was a little sad. I wanted to be home in Oregon, with what was familiar, but Christmas with my in laws was actually wonderful! It just so happens that T Money's family does a lot of similar things and traditions as mine. I love my in laws so much, so it made the transition a whole lot easier.

all photos in this post via instagram. 

I didn't make New Years Goals this year. Not because I don't have goals, but because I always make them and never keep them. So I made one blanket statement and word that entails all of my little goals.
Happiness. 
I want to do what makes me happy. 

As many of you know, I have struggled with clinical depression since I was 14. This is not something that defines me or even tears me down anymore. I have learned how to process, deal and cope with it. There are definite days when I still struggle with it, but I know what helps me and what doesn't. I know when to see signs.
 I have spent too much of my life trying to do what makes others happy, or my parents happy, or what the church thinks that I should do to make me happy. I am doing what I know will make me happy. And let me tell you, in the past few months that I have done that, I have felt SO MUCH HAPPIER. I love where I am at in my life and that, to me, is what the whole point of this journey is, right? To enjoy it and embrace it and love it and savor it. And that's what I'm doing.

Some of these things that make me happy and that I want to continue to work on and change are:
-Going to the gym & exercising outside when I can. Yes, I want to lose weight. And thats a definite goal of mine, but more importantly than that, working out helps  with my depression and anxiety and stress. I love the endorphins that it gives me. I go to the gym because it makes me feel better. I will try to go to the gym often.
-Blogging when I want to. Sure, that may affect my numbers, but I felt way too much anxiety putting a deadline or a definite date on things. Who cares? I want to have quality posts and if that means only one post a week, then so be it. I am so sick of all the drama and mean words and stress that blogging brings. The second a hobby turns into something negative, it is not healthy.
-Do something once a day to improve myself. If that means, taking a bath and dealing with my stress, going to the gym, taking the dog for a walk, reading my scriptures, taking a nap, watching a show, reading a book, going out to lunch with friends, writing on this blog, etc. I want to remember that if I want to help others, I need to take care of myself. I want to continue to be spontaneous and fun and continue enjoying life. Along with this is involving myself in the Be Better Movement for Kenya Keys. Many of you know that I lived in Kenya for a few months in 2011 through an education program called Kenya Keys. Every week, I am, with the help of many other women to improve myself physically and mentally with one challenge a week. For every challenge I participate in and post on social media, money is donated for a child's education in Kenya. I am very passionate about these things: health, education, and my love for Kenya. I am excited to participate in it so that my loves in Kenya can get an education. This is improving myself and them. Look for the #bebetter52 hashtage on my instagram!
-Continue My Relationships and Serve Others. I don't have a lot of resources like money or tons of time, but I do have the luxury of having lots of people I love close to me. I want to continue to reach out to old friends, make new friends and serve those around me. I I have so many good people around me and I want to continue those friendships and relationships, because those people and that time is something that makes me happy. It sounds so cliche, but service really does bring happiness.
-And, of course, grow as a Teacher, Daughter of God, Wife and person. 

Life: My life is good. I have many things to be grateful for. The past week I have been really sick with a horrible cold, cough and sinus stuff. I am just now starting to feel better.  Tanner and I are thinking about buying a house and that's a little stressful, but it's definitely something we have started looking into. It's note definite, but something we are pondering. We are enjoying our time together and are excited for some possible trips this summer!! I am working like crazy and swamped with science fairs, testing, observations and parent teacher conferences. I am loving working with my young women and talking to them often. They are such funny, beautiful, awesome 14-15 year olds. My mother came into town last weekend for a visit and my brothers birthday. It was good to see her. Hard, just like it can be whenever family is around, but it was good.


And, that, my friends, is the way the cookie crumbles.
(That doesn't relate to this post at all, huh? That phrase doesn't work, huh? Whatever.)

Oh here are more pictures of life recently. Thank you, instagram. IG seriously saves my life. I really need to start using my nice camera.

Holiday Date Night Ideas!

I am so excited to have Brooklyn on my blog today. Brooklyn is an adorable, fun, sweet lady who writes about her growth in marriage and relationships. I have loved reading her blog and getting to know her through this blogging world!


Hello lovelies! I'm Brooklyn from A Little Too Jolley. If you want to get to know me you can learn more about me HERE.

But today I'm here to share ten fun holiday date night ideas!

1. Make a Gingerbread House together.

Most groceries stores have premade kits that are super simple to put together or you can go all out and DIY!

2. Watch a Christmas movie on Netflix.

I made a list of a TON of Christmas movies you can watch on Netflix. Watching movies is the perfect way to enjoy some cuddle time together which I truly can never have enough of.

3. Look at Christmas lights.

Get into your PJ's, drive around, listen to Christmas music and find the houses with the very best Christmas lights!

4. Do some Christmas shopping. 

Make a list of all the people you need gifts for, hit up your local mall and go cross something off your to-do list while holding hands with your honey.

5. Find a local ice skating rink and go skate.

I swear ice skating is in almost every Christmas movie, it's tradition! And if you fall down, I guess your spouse will just have to pick you back up. 

6. Bake, decorate and deliver sugar cookies.

Try a homemade recipe or pick up a simple mix. It will be a blast decorating and talking about who you could deliver them to. 

7. Attend the Nutcracker or A Christmas Carol.

Both performances are sure to bring the Christmas spirit. Lots of cities you can find cheap or expensive tickets depending on where you go to see the performance. 

8. Go sledding. 

Buy a sled, find a local hill, and have at it!

9. Take pictures.

 Find another couple, go out and take turns taking "family pictures" for your Christmas cards.

10. Create your own holiday bucket list.

Decide what things you both want to do during the holiday season and hang it up somewhere where you will both see it!