Music and Motivation

Happy day to all out there!

What a fun week it has been so far for me and my silly, crazy students!
I don't even know where to begin...

My Monday was thrown a bit off course when the class I take at my church was canceled...
BOO!

Planning for book reports and presentations have been consuming my time, aside from the last few papers I am in the process of writing... It's okay I only have a couple more things to do and I am done with yet another semester of getting my Master's Degree in Early Childhood Education!
PHEW!

Tomorrow is science night at my school... I don't recall ever having an official "science night" when I was in either elementary or middle school...
Cannot express how excited I am to see what all of the children in my school have put together! All I can say for sure is that today I saw a posterboard that had bags of chewed up gum posted all around the board! ICK!

Tonight I was fortunate enough to go to a inspiring and beautiful concert!
This is the song that I am currently obsessed with... can you say AH-mazing?!
The band I saw is called "The City Harmonic", check them out!!

Enjoy every, single bit of your day!

Happy Monday!

I hope you all had a fantastic Monday...
I know that my day was extremely exhausting!


April 25th...

I don't know if you all remember the movie that came out a few years ago. There was this woman, who grew up a little different then the people around her.

She was driven to have a role in a "man's world" and because of this she was looked at as one of the guys.

One day she was assigned to a special job that would allow her the opportunity to show off the woman that she never knew she was.

Through this experience the main character grew exponentially. Not only was she now able to make friends with the wonderful people she was surrounded by but she also developed a new sense of self and confidence.

This movie happens to be one of my favorites, not just because of the silly humor, but because of the hidden character message.

A small excerpt from this movie, will explain why I felt so compelled to post about this on the "perfect date, April 25th".

Enjoy!

*Side Note: I hope you take time to enjoy a little fun in the sun!

All of My Monday Joys,

Music and Motivation - Dad's b-day/Easter Edition

Happy happy Easter to all out there!

I hope the Easter Bunny (in whatever form he so chooses) visited you this year!
Whether it was enjoying your first hunt to find Easter goodies like I got to do this year courtesy of my dear friend Cassie, or following a "jelly bean trail" per my mom from my bed leading to the basket of candy and happiness!

Most importantly, a very happy birthday to my Awesome Pop! So sad to not be able to enjoy spaghetti dinner with him on his day!

Holidays without the family are a bit strange, and because this day is both it feels like a double whammy of weirdness... especially because I do love birthdays oh so very much!

On this very fun Sunday I am lucky enough to be reunited with two of my very favorite snack foods (wish I could've said something a bit more exciting!) I have not had the privilege of enjoying either "Hot Fries" or Chocolate for quite some time now, and let me just say am bursting with excitement at getting to eat them again (in moderation).

Here is a short view of the food I was missing, and will be consuming consistently for a very long while:

Hot Fries, my favorite!!

I'd say at this point it is pretty obvious what some of my weaknesses are...

And to leave you with a final tune, in honor of my Dad on his special day. A little diddy from one of our favorite bands, The Eagles! Enjoy!



Happy jelly bean eating to all out there!

Friendship Series: Part 2

Much like when I was growing up, recent phenomenon in my classes involve the female Middle School students. They have been their nastiest self towards each other.  It is very disheartening to see that this behavior exists today. Do they realize that as women we must be advocates for one another?

As an educator not only am I required to teach my children the state mandated standards, but I am also compelled to teach them general “rules for the road”.  I have absolutely no problem with this, the relationships I have built with my wonderful kiddo’s makes helping with any problems a necessity.

Now one of the books that I continue to use as a source of inspiration is The Velveteen Principles by Toni Raiten-D’Antonio.

The Happiness Project (also a website) written by Gretchen Rubin offers some great advise on many things and some on how to be a true and great friend.  If you try and follow these simple rules hopefully your life wont has short friendships but ones that are long and true:

Be supportive when your friend has bad news.  Don’t you just hate it when you are trying to bear your soul to somebody and they aren’t giving it the attention you feel it deserves?

Be supportive when your friend has good news. This is something that can be just as hurtful as the former. If someone is unable to celebrate your successes as well as your failures shouldn’t you question that friendship.

Don’t gossip. If you are constantly talking bad to one friend about the other, don’t you think they will start to wonder if you are constantly talking bad about them to the other person?

Keep a secret. One of the best things about having a close friend is feeling comfortable sharing secrets with them. Not keeping a secret safe can destroy trust and ruin friendships.

Don’t criticize or flirt with a friend’s sweetheart. Along with secrets this is something that can ruin a friendship.


Show up. Not only is it important to be there for a friend emotionally but also making sure they feel comfortable going somewhere by being their support can be just as important.

I don’t know if many of my students will be too apt to follow such rules, but I think just by mentioning the words to them It will make a difference (at least this teacher hopes so).

Am I a nerd or what?!  Hope you enjoyed the “lesson in friendship”!!!

Love and Friendship,

Happy Monday!

This week I have a challenge for you:


I challenge you to give thanks to the people around you.

It needn't be walking up to a person and saying, "Thanks!"
I encourage you to try and do something to show them that you are truly thankful for all that they do to make the lives around them shine a little bit brighter.

There are a lot of people that I am thankful for on a regular basis, and trust me when I say I will be making sure that they are aware of how thankful I am to have them in my life.


My THANKS always,

Friendship Series: Part 1

Gossip… it is a tradition that has been going on for a long time. (Unfortunately women are given the wrap for being the largest participant of this act.)

As women it is important that we nurture and foster our relationships with other women. I found something I thought was incredibly interesting while I was stumbling around the Internet the other day; Men are healthier with women in their lives. Unlike men, women need their relationships with fellow females to be their healthiest person. Look at how happy Ken always seemed when he was with Barbie (they broke up and just recently got back together)… I often wonder what Barbie got out of that relationship Ken always seemed like he was all body and no depth. (*You can thank my dear little sister, Jacque for that Barbie/Ken reference)

Blast from the past:

When I was in Middle School my friends’ and I had our issues, we struggled with our friendships, insecurities, and confidence. Lucky for us we each had amazing relationships with our mothers. We were able to use the personal experiences our mother’s had to offer to help us (if we wanted it).

Not only that but we had an outlet and a mediator at school to help us through our problems. As I recall, at one point our relationships got so strained that we had to all sign a “friendship contract” (no, not like the one on Real Housewives of Atlanta).

Luckily we were able to fight through those difficulties, and struggles of growing up, and make it to being women with continuing friendships with the knowledge of what it takes to make it through difficult times with friends.

Friends are Sisters you get to choose!

It’s hard to say where I would be if it weren’t for the amazing friends I have been able to surround myself with.


With peace and joy in my heart,

Happy Monday!

A few HAPPY notes from Sarah:

Walking barefoot on a sandy beach.

Coffee dates with great friends

My amazing Family

Challenge yourself to think of a couple things each day that put a big grin on your face!


May happy thoughts surround your day and week and month and life!!

Music and Motivation

Hope everyone out there had a magical Wednesday, I know mine sure was an adventure...

Just out of curiosity, do people EVER stop carving names they love into walls of bathroom stalls? Ech, I don't think so! Obviously this was something that we got the pleasure of dealing with today... The many joys of middle school!

Too bad my students weren't this creative!

On a happier note  I really enjoy asking the students I encounter if they have heard of miscellaneous bands (by this I mean:gauging how old I really am). Today I was all about asking about Queen, one of my favorite bands to sing terribly off pitch around anybody possible! Needless to say I had one song in mind and NO it was NOT Bohemian Rhapsody, shocker right, seeing as I know all of the words!

So as I asked so many students today (about 70),
"Have you EVER heard of Queen?" as the melody of Somebody to Love plays in my head! ENJOY and JAM!

I hope your journey to find somebody to love is magical...

*side note: when I was looking up this song Justin Bieber popped up... hum...


Wishing you a very happy rest of the week!

Happy Monday!

Here's to a beautiful shimmery Monday!

Hope each and every one of you feels like your weeks has had a generous sprinkling of Fairy Dust on it!

Enjoy this Happy Song to start your week off with a smile!


Sunshine and Rainbows,