I'd like to thank...

a whole lot of people that nominated me for the Liebster blog award. This post is going to be a novel so if you make it to the end, well a BIG HUGE THANK YOU. Even if you read a portion of it. . . thank you! If you aren't sure what this means... the Liebster blog award is given by bloggers to other bloggers that have less than 200 followers. It is to show a little piece of appreciation and spread the word about our little places in this big cyber world.

And to the six people who nominated me... Realistic Teacher, This Little Piggy Reads, Where the Wild Things Learn, Sparkling in Third Grade, The Wild Rumpus, and Writing Pad Dad

Here are the rules:
1. Post 11 random things about yourself.
2. Answer the questions that the nominator set for you.
3. Create 11 questions for the people you nominate.
4. Choose 11 other blogs with less than 200 followers to nominate and link them in your post. Go to their blog and let them know you nominated them.
5. You can not "tag back" the person that nominated you. Instead, leave a comment on this post with the link to your post so I can learn more about you.

Ok... 11 random things about me...
1. I love Disney World. Given the choice of two places to vacation I have always picked Disney. The year I got married I spent a week there with my best friend 2 weeks before my wedding. We then spent two weeks on our honeymoon in Disney. It was 3 weeks in Disney over the course of about a month. And no I wasn't sick of it.
2. I am terrified of birds. Well really, of all living things that fly.
3. I love to read. But I don't read heavy stuff. I read light fluffy books. Chick lit if you will. And I haven't found a book that I didn't like from that genre.
4. I am a fan of the Buffalo Bills. Yes they typically do terrible. No I don't stop being a fan. No I didn't become a fan because they went to 4 Super Bowls. And yes I am aware they lost all.4.in.a.row (my first year teaching one of my students said "HOW can you go to the Super Bowl four times in a row and NEVER win?... My thoughts exactly friend..)
5. Every monumental thing that has happened in my life (other than my own birth) has happened in June (though I was DUE in June but born early in May..had I been born on my due date I would be a day younger than my husband)... I started dating my husband in June, got engaged 2 years later in Disney in June, got married two years later in June, and had my first baby in June.
6. I have a lot of hobbies. I am not perfect (or even remotely good at some) at them, but I enjoy them anyways. I like to sew, but currently am taking a break from it because time is limited. I love taking pictures but have no clue how to really use my fancy camera...I really need a good class.
7. I absolutely HATE cooking. Standing at the stove and dealing with food is not my idea of a good time. Give me a crock pot recipe though and I am happy as can be.
8. I love pens. Pretty ones. Ones that write nice. I have more pens than any one person could possibly ever need yet every time I am in the store I look for new ones. And if I lose a favorite I get really distraught.
9. I hate the snow but miss the "first snow" of the season in Buffalo. If it snows here, well usually it doesn't stick. And if it does, the 2-3 inches don't really impress me.
10. I have a shih tzu that I love . He is probably the dumbest dog you will ever meet, and he is a pure spaz, but I can't resist him...even when he is getting on my nerves.
11. I love dolphins and killer whales and have since my first trip to sea world. I wanted to be a dolphin trainer but found out that the program needed requires you to learn how to train all kinds of exotic animals... including birds. And if you read number 2, you understand why i never went for it.

Ok now the question portion. Since I was nominated by 6 people.. I can not possibly answer 55 questions. That would take me until next week and who would even read it. So I am picking 2 from each person.

From The Realistic Teacher
1. Do you have any tattoos? How many? Of what?    I have 2... One I got my first year of college that is a sun/flower thing with 9 rays. For the 9 close friends that got me through high school. Sadly we aren't friends anymore, but no hard feelings. I just grew away from them. And I have a dolphin that is carrying a ribbon that is the colors of the Italian flag. They are both on the inner sides of my ankles.
2. If you could eat lunch with a favorite person who would it be?    I would have lunch with my Aunt that passed away in August and my mom and her daughter would be there too. We used to have game night every Friday before we left Buffalo and it was some of the best times I have ever had in my life. I don't share this with people, but her death was really hard on me. 

From This Little Piggy Reads
1. What led you to decide you wanted to be an educator?     I had an amazing group of elementary teachers. In particular my first and fifth grade teachers. My third grade teacher was not good. In fact, she called me brain dead (mind you I had straight As). I knew I wanted to be like my first and fifth grade and prevent a small portion of the students in the world from getting a teacher like my third grade teacher. My students seem to love me so I guess I am doing a good job.
2. Favorite TV show...     I have quite a few of them. Current shows- How I Met Your Mother. Lots of reality TV (Big Brother is probably my all time favorite reality tv show). My husband and I invested in netflix so we can watch shows we never have before and watch them in order. We are currently watching Arrested Development and its pretty darn good. Last series was My Name is Earl and my first thought was "REALLY?! You want me to watch a show about trailer trash?!" But really... I was sad when it was over haha.

From Where the Wild Things Learn
1. What is the craziest thing a student has ever said or done in your classroom?    Hmm I don't think I have had too many crazy things happening. (I always said I should start a blog just to keep track though because things do happen I just forget.) Maybe I need to make this a regular occurring post though. Anything something happens, add it to a running list... hmm
2. What could you not live without in your classroom?     My to do lists. I put EVERYTHING on them. From what papers I need to put where all the way to what PD I need to do online. I have lost the list twice in the past couple years and I swear you would have thought the world was ending. I have so much to do that I can never remember. 

From Sparkling in Third Grade
1. How long have you been teaching and what grades?     This is my 6th year. My first year I taught in a Catholic school. I taught grades 6-8 science (I HATE science), 8th grade math, and 7th grade religion. My 2nd year I moved to TN and taught 20 whopping days in 2nd grade until I got moved to third grade and have been there ever since.
2. What is your worst teaching memory?     ALL of last school year. It was the worst group of kids I have ever dealt with and I really don't know how I made it through the year without quitting. That was the general consensus of every third grade teacher in our school. This year my class more than makes up for it though (but I am trying to keep that hush hush because I fear for next year). 

From The Wild Rumpus
1. Coffee or tea?     I like Ugly Mug Chai tea with flavored creamers. I do not like coffee. Or any other chai tea from any other place.
2. If you hadn't become a teacher, what would you have become?     I think about this all the time. I think my dream job would have been to do something that involves reading... book editing? And then learn photography and do that on the side.

From Writing Pad Dad
1. What do you do to relax?     Relax? What's that? No really.... I do a lot of things. I love to read and sometimes I do that to take stress away. And I just lay in bed and watch TV sometimes with my husband so that I stop thinking of whatever it is that is stressing me out.
2. Can you cook?     Ummm... I can follow directions. I can not just cook on my own and yes I measure when a recipe tells you to. I even measure when I am making Kraft mac and cheese. My husband likes what I cook (when I cook) so that is what matters.

And now the 11 bloggers I am nominating... (sorry- I have to break the rules. I got to 8 and have to stop for the night.)
Adventures in Second Grade
Fourth Grade Lemonade
The Reading Olympians
Beach, Sand, and Lesson Plans
Under the Sea in Second Grade
Eberopolis
Krazy Town
One Class One Sound