movies i can't wait to see

Although I haven't seen The Hunger Games yet, these movies are FOR SURE on my list of Must Sees! 

"Dear John" was okay, and I really wasn't a fan of the last Nicholas Sparks movie that casted Miley Cyrus as the lead (barf) 

But I am a huge fan of my under age crush Zach Efron yum!

Here's the trailer in case you haven't been to the movies in a while and haven't seen it! 

Also on my list, is American Reunion

OMG

Anyone that was in High school in 1999 like I was when this came out, this movie was the Porkys of our generation. 

I've seen American Pie 2

and American Wedding 

All the other spoofs I've skipped (meaning all the other American Pie movies that came after these without any of the original cast)

Here's the trailer for the new one. I'm really excited to see it! 

And I'm really glad the ENTIRE cast is back in this one! 

Never Say Never

I recently shared with my fellow colleagues at lunch last week, that I almost didn't become an art teacher. The look on their faces was priceless. I think I shocked them.

TRUE STORY

I should probably back up and start from the beginning.

When my mother passed away in 1995, I was in the 8th grade. I began to keep a sketch book and took an interest in drawing. Nothing grand mind you. Just writing, collaging those types of things. ( I have over 13 journals that are to this day, very painful for me to read. They were a great source/outlet for me to put all my feelings out there, but only for me to see.)

Upon graduating from middle school,

I was enrolled in all girls catholic high school for 2 years where I started to take art classes my freshman and sophomore year. I loved my art teacher. She was so positive and let us, all of us, her students, have so much creativity and freedom with our assignments.I even did Set Design for our school plays along with stage crew! 

After those 2 years, my father had met someone, remarried, and we had to move away, since my stepmom didn't feel comfortable living in the house that my mom died in. At the time I was super angry about this (as an adult now, I totally can say who can blame her!? Again another story for another day)

So we moved to a new town 45 min from my old one. Where I started HS as a Junior with NO FRIENDS. Let me tell you, as parents, as a child that went through this, if at all possible, NEVER pull your children from High School mid year. It's the worst possible time to yank a hormonal teenager from school. 

We toured my new private catholic high school, which was co-ed woo hoo! My dad and I asked to see the art room and meet the art teacher.

We shook hands, said how do you do, and then I don't remember how the comment even came up, but my father made the mistake of saying, "Cassandra always gets "A"s in art."

My new art teacher's response: "Well Mister_______, in my class, "A"s are EARNED."

I was stunned. WTF.

WHO SAYS THAT?!?!

My father was not trying to be smug or say I was some God's gift artist, he was just saying I always did well in art. It was my one subject I excelled in.

From the moment school started, and I had art class, I kid you not, the art teacher was EXTREMELY hard on me. She never had anything good to say about my art. EVER. This teacher, is a reason I almost didn't get into college. I had no portfolio filled with art work since I really hated the majority of my art work. After all, they were not quite good enough, according to my teacher.

 She basically had it out for me. Yes, those teachers even in my time did exist, probably still do. 

To my knowledge the beast of a teacher is STILL teaching. (her poor students now) 

I graduated HS in 2000. 

I had never felt so lost in my life. I entered college in the fall of 2000 not knowing what direction to even go in, since I had lost my passion/interest for art. 

The biggest lie I ever got told in college was that "oh you don't have to declare your major right away, you can just take gen ed courses your first year."

.....::::Cough Cough:::.... 

BULL SHIZNIT!!

Not having a general interest/direction my first year, added on that extra semester at the end of 4 years for me. I only graduated in 4/1/2 years because I took a ton of classes over the summer to get out in under 5 years. 

You have to know a general direction of what you want to study in college. Otherwise you'll never graduate in under 5 years! 

Anyhow, after my first year, I finally decided to ease back into art. And when I say ease, I mean I signed up for ONE measly art class, and based on how that went, would be my deciding factor as to whether or not I'd ever do anything with art. 

I knew graduating with an "Art" degree I would not make any money as the expression goes, a "Starving artist". 

So my advisor suggested Art Education. 

I was like as in being a teacher?

Does that mean I have to take math?

She laughed. No, only one gen ed math class required. (THANK GOODNESS! Math was so and is still not my "thing")

I found my niche around my Junior Year. I had really taking a liking to my intro to Photography class, and took every photo class after that. 

Being an Art Ed major, was like being a double major. I had to take all education classes, on top of all Art classes. Talk about a ton of work! 

I decided that as much as I loved Photography, I didn't want to "teach" it. That I would do photo for "me" and only on the side.

That's where teaching came in, and I focused on wanting to teach gen ed art to grades K-12. 

My  current staff thanks me over and over for not giving up on my "dream". Regardless of who tells you "NO, you can't you won't you're not good enough" is such a crock of SHIIIZ. 

Ever. 

I'm like the Michael Jordan version for art. People will tell you no, find something else, and yet through perseverance, dedication, to all those people who didn't believe in me,

LOOK AT ME NOW.

YES I CAN!

yours, mine, ours

We've all heard the saying "What's yours is mine, and what's mine is ours" right? 

If not ( go watch little rascals the line is in that movie!)


In a few short months I will be married. As excited as I am, there is still the whole "Money" issue.

Mister Wonderful is an RN in the OR. I'm a teacher. It doesn't take rocket science to figure out which one of us is on the lower end of the totem pole when it comes to income now does it? When I say low, I do mean low. Arizona is ranked 47th or 48th out of all 50 states for the LOWEST teaching salary. 




From the moment I graduated from college, I have been  financially independent. Mister Wonderful and I currently "split" the bills and the last time we had a money discussion, it is to remain that way once we are married. This means, his account, my account, no "ours". Is this bad? 

Some people seem to think that a married couple should share everything: pay all their money into a joint account, "your" debts become "our" debts and we pay them off together, "your" kids become "our" kids and I pay half the child support and expenses, or do half of the parenting if the kids live with us, "your" problems become "our" problems and we deal with them together, "your" friends and hobbies become "our" friends and hobbies, etc. Other people think that a couple should maintain separate finances and pay equal amounts into a joint account, if the guy has kids then he should pay the child support out of his own money and the woman should only be responsible for the kids they have together, maybe one spouse shouldn't expect the other to be a parent to his/her child, and both people should still have their own friends and hobbies, etc.

Where do you draw the line at merging with a spouse after marriage? Do you merge emotionally but not financially? Do you merge families but not bank accounts? Would you put your spouse's name on an asset you already own, such as a house? Do you expect your spouse to share all their friends and hobbies? Should one spouse support the other through a college degree or something? Also, do you think different generations have a different attitude? Are younger or older people more likely to maintain their independence after marriage? Are people who have had more relationships (and therefore more breakups) more sceptical about merging with a spouse? 

I have one friend that says that all married couples should definitely have a joint bank account. If you don’t trust a person with your finances, then you shouldn’t be married to them. She says that for couples that choose not to share bank accounts, it makes money more of an issue in their marriage. If bills are divvied up (i.e. one person agrees to buy groceries, and the other agrees to pay the car insurance, etc.), the couple constantly has to talk about money. It creates situations where he looks at you with loathing when you say you want the brand name, expensive chocolate and tells you to pull out your own wallet in the grocery store! It creates anger and jealousy when one spouse earns less and can’t “afford” to do the things the other spouse can. It’s a horrible way to have a marriage, (she thinks).


I'm not really sure I agree with that! Do any of you?

If you are a person who is getting married later in life and have accumulated a nest egg on your own, would you want your mate to have access to all of it?

I'm not sure I would! Ideally, it would be nice to see all the money in one pot. However, if I want to go and drop 40 dollars on a pedicure, 25 on Aspen's monthly bath and brush, 50-80 dollars on 1-2 tops, I DON'T want to be questioned as to why I spent so much money and on what, and what for. If it's my money then I should be able to spend it right? (Assuming that I am still paying my half of the bills and not slacking there at all) 

I would have to label myself as the spender and Mister Wonderful is the saver. But this also plays into the huge fact that Mister Wonderful is NOT a shopper. He loathes the mall or spending money on things like shirts or clothes lol The man gets to wear provided scrubs to work everyday so him needing a wardrobe is not really a part of his 'style' so to speak! I think in general, separate is good, at least for us now, that way I don't feel guilty about spending my own money.

What do YOU think?

Fifty Shades of Grey Trilogy COMPLETE!

 Well, I did it! Finished ALL the books in the Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy.

LOVED LOVED LOVED the books. 

Underneath the kinkery sex shiznit, was a romance that kept me turning page after page.

SO SO SO GOOD. I don't have one bad thing to say about the book and lets be real, we all know that doesn't happen to often!

If you've read the books, then you totally get these funny quotes.

I am totally at a loss for what I will read over the summer. 

I'm not sure my fluffy chic lit books can compare!

Open to suggestions!

art room happenings

 The kiln is going to be running again all next week! My 5th graders just finished their coil pots. Teaching clay is hard in AZ, literally have to get them to finish in ONE class period because the clay dries so incredibly fast! 

 My after school 4th 5th and 6th grades did another variation of Notan Designs. Love this new lesson! 

 4th is currently underway with their second part of their Van Gogh study (the first was their ceramic bowls) Now they are drawing and painting a still life of the flowers! 

3rd graders just finished their Pirate Portraits (not necessarily of themselves) 

They LOVED writing Pirate "talk" words around their frames..

Ahoy Matey! Where's me treasure you scurvy scoundrel!? 

haha

2nd graders just finished their Van Gogh sunflowers too! I try to have every lesson do SOME sort of interaction with Sunflowers and Van Gogh! 

bigger is better!

I shared this on FB a few days ago, and I can't help but smile so big every time I watch it. 

I promise you, if you are having a rotten day, this will make you SMILE! 

GCB The Novel

Spring Break gave me the chance to read "GCB" (Good Christian Bitches) by Kim Gatlin 

I really really liked the book a lot! :) 

I was going into it thinking it wouldn't be that good of a novel but everything that was stated in the book was so dead on! The catty behavior/gossip that even adult women still get wrapped up in. Oy. Boggled my mind! 

The book and show are simliar, but many things make them different. For one thing, the ages of the children in the book are much younger than on the show. In the book Amanda and her mother rekindle their relationship which I really liked too.

Reviews have been all over the place for this book, mainly the negative ones are of course from the people that have taken "offense" to this author and the things she wrote. 

I'd say pick yourself up a copy up of the book if you can find it on the shelves! 

Tail Wagging Tuesday: Instagram edition!

Here are some of Aspen's Instagram mugshots :) 

Now show me your fur babies finest photo op moments! :) 

the time i blogged about my love for a shaving razor

Okay so a while back the lovely Erin over at Living in Yellow blogged how Schick contacted her about their new razor that was going to make a debut in a few months, and the first few ppl to ask for a new razor would get one in the mail.  You can read about  it here in Erin's page.

I got one in the mail and OH EM GEE girls I'm in LOVE. I've been using it since I got it..which for razor life has been over a good month. 

I officially went to Target today and bought my first refill razor heads. GOOD BYE GILETTE Venus whatever the heck I was using. 

The razors don't even compare. AT ALL. The Schick razor lasts ridiculously long, The “head” of the razor dispenses it’s own moisturizing serum that hydrates as you shave.That has to be my favorite part of the razor. Not to mention more blades than the Gilette one and a better shape of a head which makes the hard to shave areas way easier. 

I kid you not, RUN don't walk and get this razor. You can thank me later when you get it and use it!!! Take it from the girl that shaves EVERYDAY that this razor is worth every penny! And razors are ridiculously expensive I know! 


I have 4 Venus Embrace Cartridges brand new if anyone wants to buy them off of me! 

On a side note...

I know girls rave about "hot tools" curling iron, but I have to rave I really like Con Air curling irons. My remington iron was on the fritz and I didn't hesitate to replace it with the iron I use pretty much every time I curl my hair! 

These are only a few of the irons I use. I have just about every iron there is when it comes to curling and crimping my hair. I still have my crimper from MIDDLE SCHOOL! It's by Vidal Sasson! 

Remington irons in my opinion, don't grasp or hold the hair well at least for my hair type. It would slide right through and I wasn't digging that. 

*note

Schick did not contact me to talk about this razor. I took it upon my self to let you all know of this fabulous razor! :)