Humbled

Something happened and it was like a slap in the face, hello Brianna what are you doing.

Let me back story it a little bit.

(This post is a little text heave and not picture friendly)

I have a terminating teaching contract. It's cause I am a first year teacher and lateral entry because I didn't complete the student teaching portion of my program.

So I knew a time would come when I would get my letter saying my job wasn't guaranteed until after they placed all tenured teachers. Still at that point my job my not be available at my school I may have to apply at other schools, meet the principals, see if we fit and then transfer. I knew it was coming.

Well that time came. It came Wednesday Morning after I made my way back to school after that terrible flu. I took my letter, my principal gave me the most encouraging words that she had a position for me even though they had to let go of a few teachers, so as long as they didn't have to transfer tenure teachers to our school I would be fine.

Remember that anxiety I have? Well it hit full force. I am the main provider right now, what would I do without a paycheck. Should I get a second job now to save in case I lost my job, I need to start checking the postings every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday to see the new jobs and apply. I can't wait around, I had to figure out our life.

I came home talked  freaked out to Andrew where he told me to relax and I shouldn't panic for the next few months until I knew. Everything would be fine. I said okay but thought no it wouldn't be fine everything is falling apart and I am not comfortable.

I woke up Thursday morning and read my blogs and the last one I read was this one from Lauren. I read it and for the 100'th time though look how strong she is and went to make my lunch. Well some where between making my sandwich and my coffee God decided to smack me in the face and had me really think about and reflect what I read in Lauren's post. 

This is what I have been praying so hard for. To soften my heart and give it over to God. Allow him to be in total control because when he is I am less anxious. I am taken care of. I am happier. And here I was trying to do it on my own

So I stopped. Prayed and felt extremely humbled. This was a test and at this point I failed. But being Christian isn't about how many times you fail, its about getting back up and asking for forgiveness. So I have put my lists aside and began praying and asking God what his list is. I know that he has a plan and it is better and more perfect that any plan I could ever come up with.

Our God is fighting for us always

Our God is fighting for us all

Our God is fighting for us always

We are not alone

We are not alone

Things I wished I wouldn't have turned down when planning my wedding

Let me start this off by saying my wedding was amazing. I married my best friend and we have a beautiful marriage. 

Or as Ben Affleck would say " The best kind of work"

 When I got married I wasn't blogging, and pinterest wasn't around ( I can't imagine all the other projects I would have added if it had been) but I wanted to recap 5 things that I had as an option that I turned down and wished I didn't.

 First Look

We got married almost 2 years ago and this wasn't something that was all the rage like it is now. I feel like it hit right as we got married and I was to nervous about breaking tradition. However I wish we would have done this. It would have allowed us to get more photos as a bridal party and as a couple that I feel like we lacked. Also I would love to remember Andrew's reaction when he first saw me but I was so nervous I can't remember.

Smaller Guest List

We had over 200 people at our wedding. I remember at a certain point I told my bridesmaids to not let anyone besides Andrew, family or bridal party near me. I was so tired of talking and I just wanted to enjoy the reception. I would say a quarter of the people there I couldn't put a name to their face

 Eat before entering the reception

Our venue coordinator offered this to us. We could eat in a separate room during the first half of the cocktail hour then mingle the second half and enter the reception. I ate two bites before I was pulled in so many different directions and then forgot about eating. Thank goodness I have an amazing husband who as soon as we got to the hotel ordered me a pizza :)

Hired a videographer 

I didn't do this because I thought pictures would be enough. However I was so nervous during the ceremony I don't remember much! I wish I video taped it also for family who couldn't make it and it would be amazing to watch in the future if we have daughters when they get married!

So did you do any of these things in your wedding?
What were some things you wish you wouldn't have turned down?

Surviving sickness...

Growing up being sick was easy.

You skip school, mom or dad stay home with you and nurse you back to health.

Then you get married and move into your own house and being sick isn't that easy.

Whose going to take care of you?

Who is going to cover for you at work? Sub Plans are the worst and when you have to leave 2 hours into work because your throwing up doesn't not make it easy for your school.

Maybe I should embrace the Sheldon Cooper Model.

I hate being sick. I am the worst sick person, I am whiny and needy. I wish I could be one of those people who came home and slept but no that's just not me, I want constant attention. I get it from my dad, hes the same way.

Luckily my mom taught me the best remedy for when you are sick

Its called the BRAT Diet.

And luckily it works wonders. It was originally for kids when they had upset stomachs but what is the flu but days of upset stomachs.

So basically its a list of food to eat that will help you get better and will stay down after you eat it!

So that has been my diet for the last two days.

What do you do when your sick?

Shrimp Tacos :)

So Andrew and I are huge foodies and Mexican is our all time favorite!

So we wanted seafood and Mexican and here our shrimp tacos were born.

This has been my favorite marinade yet!

Shrimp Marinade

1/2 pound shrimp

1 teaspoon chili powder

1 teaspoon brown sugar

1 teaspoon cumin

1 tablespoon EVOO

juice of 1/2 lime

Pineapple Salsa

8 ounce can of crushed pineapple

1 jalapeno

1/4 of a red onion diced

juice of one lime

handful of chopped cilantro

Combine all your ingredients for your pineapple salsa and refrigerate until ready to use. This will help blend flavors. Combine all you ingredients for your marinade and add in shrimp. Marinade for about 30 minutes then cook. Warm up your tortillas and layer shrimp then salsa. At our house we served it with a side of homemade cilantro lime rice :)

Yumm Yumm Mexican at home :)

Out with the old.....

I don't have many creative juices flowing in my brain today cause it has been a week.

Monday- I was out sick

Tuesday- I was exhausted had 2 parent conferences, an IEP meeting and gate duty for the track meet

Wednesday- Another parent meeting and a math training for quarter 4 till 5:30

Thursday- I took my 120 6th graders on a math bowling field trip

** they had a blast but I am exhausted**

Friday- Grades and comments are due for report cards by 4pm

WAHHHHHHHH!!!!

 Needless to say I will be heading down south to Charlotte to see the fam!

Can't wait to snuggle with this little girl

But on a positive note. Check out my new blog design! Shannon from Shannon Page Designs did an amazing job. It was part of my birthday present. Thanks hubs :)

Marriage and Money

After your married the hardest thing 

(besides learning to live with a boy for the rest of your life) 

is learning to share your money.

You go your whole life worrying about yourself and now its not just you anymore.

The three most common ways I have seen married couples deal with money are

1. What's Mine is yours

(you share everything)

2. My Money and Your Money

(you share nothing)

3. Mine, Yours and Ours

(Share only some and keep some for yourself)

Andrew and I fall under category number one. 

I am going to tell you why but I want to preface it by saying that I don't think if you don't do it our way you are wrong. I am just saying this is what falls in lines with what our values and the ideals we want to set for our family

Andrew's family does the my money, your money (#2) and my parents do a what's mine is yours approach (#1) so when we got married we had to figure out what we wanted.

When we said I do I promised God that I would become one with my husband. We live our lives daily to glorify God and make him happy so in return all our blessings come from him. They are given to us to bless our family so we count our money as one.  I don't believe one of us should get more because one person currently makes more than the other. There will be multiple times in our lives where we switch roles of who makes more. 

We set our budget on what we want to save each month and that automatically goes into savings. Then we take out living expenses and then budget food and gas. Then whatever is leftover is our free money for the month. 

Because Andrew is a grad student and I am a teacher we live on a budget. We take our free money and while we do spend a little on ourselves ( and when I mean little I mean coffee with friends or a quick breakfast on the way to work) we spend the majority on things we can do together. 

Yes this means I have had to cut back my shopping to only when I really need things or I have to clean out my closet in order to splurge on some new outfits but in the long run I am going to remember the things we did together with our money and not the hot new fashion piece this season. Now don't get me wrong I am not the only one who cuts back. Andrew doesn't buy quite as many video games and gadgets as he used to either. We are grateful for what we have and while sometimes I swoon over new things, I have become more appreciative of what I have been blessed with and not feeling like I always want more.

In the end this is what works for us. We make decisions on our money together. If there is something one of us really wants that is pricey we talk about it and make the decision together. Then we save a little for a few months and we make it work. It helps us not only save and get things we really want but also helps so much with our communication as a couple.

So what about you? How do you deal with money?

What you don't know Wednesday!

I saw this last week on Christin's blog and I figured since I have some new followers I would give it a try!

1. I am the oldest at 24 but I also have an 18 year old sister named Cassandra and a 7 month old baby sister named Ava!

2. I have suffered from depression( You can read about it here). I had to take a semester off during college to get control of my life. But I have grown so much and hope to help other girls one day.

3. I am deathly terrified of being pregnant but I want to be a mom so bad. When the time is right of course.

4. I have the most sensitive skin. I get cysts on my face and I will have them for a month. Nothing can make them go away and I have to use special face wash on my face and back to help prevent them but it isn't 100% effective.

5.I love being a teacher, however I always wonder what else I could have done. People think teaching is so easy and sometimes make me feel like my job isn't as important or as hard as theirs.

6. I am such a morning person. By 9pm even on weekends I am a zombie.

7. I am a health freak. My parents made me eat super healthy growing up because my dad has a kidney disease and I appreciate it so much. My husband and I eat gluten and preservative free. I can tell my body loves it and that is all that matters.

8. I bite my nails and pick my cuticles. To prevent it I have to keep my nails done at all times. I got the DIY Gel Manicure Set and it has been a lifesaver!

9. I love to sing, its my favorite way to worship the Lord. 

10. I am a theatre junkie. If my life could be a musical I would be so happy.

I hope you enjoyed learning a little more about me. If you do this please let me know. I would love to read it!

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