One More Sleep...

...or one might call it a nap.  I am leaving for the airport in about 5 hours.  Call me crazy but I waited until the last minute to pack.  It might be because of all the Christmas celebrating I did last weekend and the preparing for my sub next week and preparing for a week of teaching the week I return from the trip.  Or maybe it was because I had other things that I felt were more important like spending time with an important person in my life.  Or maybe it was a combination of all of the above.  Whatever the reason, I am now almost packed.  It's tough to pack for 3 weeks when a lot of my time before and after the cruise will be spent in the air.  I'm not complaining one bit, but it's a challenge.  On shorter trips, I've been known to plan out my wardrobe for each day, but there was no way that my mind was able to even think about doing that this time.  The weather was also a challenge that kept me from packing early.  It is supposed to be colder (in my mind) since it is almost winter, but it hasn't been that cold.  So I was wearing most of the clothes that I needed to pack.  Oh well, I'm packed now and all good :)

I'm really excited about the whole experience of setting foot on another continent....actually I'll be setting foot on two other continents.  Besides Australia, I'll be adding Asia too.  We won't be in Asia too long but it'll be enough time to stay overnight.  I'm excited also about spending the time with my mom.  She is a good travel buddy.....we take care of each other.  She lets me do what I want to do and I let her do what she wants to do.  All in all, we are a good team!

I have been somewhat distracted this evening in the midst of packing by the terrible and horrible news from Connecticut.  My heart breaks for those families and friends of the innocent children and teachers who lost their lives and those who were in the midst of the chaos.  It hits way too close to home.  I want my students to be and feel safe in my classroom and not be afraid to come to school.  I want them to know that I will protect them when they walk in the door and that no one will hurt them or do them any wrong at all.  The fact that someone would do something so horrible to sweet children is so disturbing.  Pray for those families....it's going to be a long road ahead of them.  Pray for the children that lost their best friends, their friends that shared their snacks with them, were in their dance class, or on the same soccer team.  Pray for strength, comfort, and healing.  I know the Lord hears us and knows our hearts.  He wants us to trust Him that He's got this.

With all that being said, I'll blog when I can and update as time allows, and I'll be tweeting probably more often so follow me on twitter (@ka204).  So sit back and enjoy the ride!

Christmas Card Update

As you might remember back almost a month ago I did a review on Tiny Print cards as a promotion to get my Christmas cards free. Well I had a really hard time choosing a card because I'm somewhat picky. Here are the criteria my card had to meet.
1. It had to be foldable. I don't have a problem with flat cards but if I'm getting them free, I'm getting the most that I can.
2. There had to be more than one spot for a picture. Since I'm not really all about photoshoots of just me, I wanted spots to put pictures of all my adventures from throughout the year. I would have loved to had a spot for a picture inside the card but that didn't matter as much as having several picture spots on the front.
3. It could not say "Happy Holidays." It was necessary that it said Merry Christmas somewhere on the card.
4. There had to be a spot to write a short paragraph about my year. Since there really wasn't room for any captions for the pictures, I felt it was necessary to write about my year. I know that I love hearing about things that are happening in other people's lives so I guess I hoped that people might want to hear about my year :)
5. Picture spots on the back weren't necessary but they were definitely an added bonus. I added two pictures of my award winning photos from the state fair.

*Before I made my card I decided that I wanted to add my blog web address to the card somewhere. I was in a time crunch to get my cards sent off so I could have them back in time to send them off before Christmas. I also wanted to be able to give them out to coworkers before we were out for break. I forgot about the blog address as I was designing my card and I didn't remember until I had already sent it to the printer. Today I sat down and just wrote it on all my cards. It didn't take too long and it adds a little extra to the back.

If I don't have your address and you would like a copy of my card, just email me. I've got some extras. I'm very pleased with them and I'm hoping they do another great promotion next year :)

love this song

I was listening to the radio the other night on my short commute from work and this song came on.  I immediately loved it.  It just had a nice ring to it.  So I shazamed it.....well it came up with nothing.  I tried it again and again and nothing.  I tried it one more time and it finally came up with this and I downloaded it.  I've heard Josh Wilson's music before but I guess I don't really ever remember names.  I looked him up today and realized some of the other songs that he wrote.  I youtubed to find his song.  Here is it....it sounds better on itunes but I guess I just like the song itself and the words.  Check it out here if you are interested :)

day 21: free Christmas cards

I'm thankful that for the 2nd year in a row I am going to get free photo Christmas cards.  This year they are from Tiny Prints.  I got my code today through email so when I get back from NYC I am going to narrow down my photo selections and Christmas cards and decide who to send cards to.  Send me your address if you want a card!

Tiny Prints Christmas Cards

This will be my 2nd year to make and send out Christmas cards.  Last year someone had a promotion where you could blog about their cards and then get 50 free ones.  Sadly, they aren't doing that same promotion again this year.  However I happened upon a blog that reported that Tiny Prints is doing a similar promotion this year.  I haven't bought much from Tiny Prints but I am excited about what they have to offer.  Their line of Christmas cards is wonderful and they have some really creative cards.  You can find them here at their website.  I already have all my pictures picked out to put on my card.  I am planning to take a few more in NYC this Thanksgiving to add to my collection of optional pictures.  I know I don't have a cute little family or a sweet little puppy to show everyone but I have done a lot in the past year and I think it's a great reason to send out Christmas cards so I'm sending them out. 

I love cards that have a lot of space for pictures....I can never pick just one.  These are some of my favorites because they have space for more than one picture on them.  I also love the folded cards because I love writing a little bit about things that have happened throughout the year.

Once I have gathered all of my fun pictures, I will decide on the card I want to choose.  You really should check out their cards.  After you blog about their cards on your blog, you go fill out this form.  You can thank me later! :)

Another thing I plan to try this year with all of my Christmas cards is something I saw on Pinterest.  People have posted the idea or putting all of their Photo Christmas cards that they get in the mail on a metal ring and putting that on their coffee table each year as a holiday photo book.  I never know what to do with my Christmas cards at the end of the season and some of them are just too nice to throw out so I'm trying it out this year. 

If you are lucky, you will get a Christmas card in the mail :)