Top 10 Insta Pics of 2014

It's only New Year's Eve so I still have time, because I found another linky party for 2014! Teachery Tidbits is hosting a linky for the top 10 instagram pictures of 2014!

Here we go!!

Day 1 in Vegas done. Gordon Ramsey Steak for dinner before watching KA. Super yummy! #piccollage

Went to Vegas with the boyfriend during my Spring Break and we tried Gordon Ramsay's food for the first time! I'm a fan of Gordon Ramsay and really wanted to try his beef wellington. Yum!

Special day today! We made the set and props for our mini-opera! From left to right: bookshelf, backdrop, spaghetti. #picstitch #backtoschool #sfaria

My class last year participated in the SF Opera Aria program and created their own mini-opera with a teaching artist. The kids also built all the set pieces and props!

Dirt in a cup and sand in@a cup as my birthday treats for the kiddos! Yum! #picstitch #happybirthdaytome

I always enjoy celebrating my birthday with my kiddos!

Took this on Friday. When we get back tomorrow it will be a chrysalis. #teachersofinstagram#teachersfollowteachers #lifecycles #livespecimen

Our plants and animals unit! I was very impressed with my phone camera and it being able to zoom in that much and still have a somewhat clear shot.

This is in our hotel elevator. What???? #picstitch#travelsinjapan #exploringkyushu #elevatortoilet

I think the caption is pretty self-explanatory. :)

Two paths to take, one old, one new. Both will take you to the same place but the journey there will be different. Which do you take? #latergram#kumamotocastle #lifedecisions

This picture is actually referring to my decision to change schools and district so that I could be closer to my boyfriend and family. One very hard decision to make since I loved my old school.

Super excited to try out this new planner! Thanks bf!#thingsthatexciteteachers

Love my Erin Condren planner! 

Author Kathryn Otoshi came to visit our school today. Her books are great and she has the cutest autographs! #kathrynotoshi #one #two

Love her books and absolutely love her autographs!

Cookies in a jar for my grade level team plus some others. #pinterestideas #cookieinajar #holidaygift #diy

Such an easy and quick gift to make! I might have to make this a holiday tradition! :)

Happy holidays from Santa Snap! #dogsofinstagram#hisfirstoutfit #becomingoneofthoseowners #santapup#puppylove

Our pup that the family adopted this year! Such a sweetie and cutie pie!

So many pictures to choose from, but those are my top ten for 2014! Visit me or follow me on instagram to see more! :D

14 in 14 Linky Party

Okay, I SWEAR I will get to finishing my gingerbread unit post. I'm just having too much fun relaxing during the break! But first! Since 2014 is coming to an end after tomorrow, I better join this fun linky party I found over at Miss Kindergarten before it's too late!

Sharing 14 different memories of 2014!

[one]

Weekend Valentine's trip to Monterey! 

[two]

Vegas for spring break! Besides the strip, we also took a tour of Red Rock Canyon in these mini cars! Highly recommend it for the next time you're in Vegas. Scoot City Tours!

[three]

Celebrating my birthday with a pajama party in class...

 ...and a trip to Alcatraz with the boyfriend.

[five]

Visiting the Maker's Faire with my friend who visits from Canada every year (she secretly wants to move to California)!

[six]

School fundraiser night with the Oakland As. The brother of my friend in the picture is hidden in one of those big head characters! (He's the middle one).

 

[seven]

Packing up my classroom, not knowing that the next time I'll be back was not to unpack and set up, but to repack and take my stuff with me. I changed schools so that I could move back home and be closer to the family and boyfriend. Lots of mixed feelings about that. Lots of tears too. Loved the school and especially loved the kids. Still miss them and some of them still keep in touch!

[eight]

Traveling to Japan with my family and getting a sand bath (aka being buried in burning hot sand).

[nine]

Experiencing the Hello Kitty jet on our way from Japan to Taiwan to visit the relatives.

[ten]

First day in my new classroom at my new school!

[eleven]

Adopting our puppy, Snap! This picture shows a comparison of his growth after three months. Crazy!

[twelve]

Packing all my stuff at my old place, and moving it all back home.

[thirteen]

Trip to Santa Cruz during Veteran's weekend. Pictured with where we would be if we were working our current careers back in the old days.

[thirteen]

Old colleagues coming to visit!

[fourteen]

Mini staycation during the holiday break, which included watching Cirque du Soleil: Kurios!

Wow, that was actually incredibly hard to do! First, I went through my pictures and started uploading them, only to find out that I had uploaded almost 20 pictures!!! Guess a lot of good memories have happened in 2014! Still, I'm really looking forward to 2015 and really hope that it brings a year full of happiness and success for me!

Join in on the fun and link up too!

Happy Holidays!

Holiday Gifts

Woohoo! Holiday recess (as my district calls it) has finally begun! I tried to start a blog post early this week to share what we've been working hard on in class this past month, but exhaustion settled in and it never got finished. But fear not! I plan to finish the post during this break so stay tuned to hear about our gingerbread adventures later!

Today, however, I thought I would have enough energy to make a short post to share my holiday gifts this year. I really relied heavily on Pinterest this year, but they turned out cute! Here we go!

Double Chocolate & Toffee Cookies in a jar for the grade-level team and principal!
Credit: Crazy Little Projects

Reindeer Hot Cocoa for the "lunch bunch"
Credit: Thrifty Jinxy

Books from Scholastic, cocoa drizzled kettle korn from Trader Joe's (snowman bags from Michaels), and pencils from the Target dollar section for the students! The card was made via Vistaprint.

The kids especially loved their gifts. They really enjoyed the popcorn while watching a Charlie Brown Christmas, and were super excited after coming in from lunch when they saw presents on their desks!

Hope everyone is enjoying their holiday break! Don't forget to relax, relax, and RELAX! :D

It's December...Currently Time!

I had originally started a Thanksgiving post on Thanksgiving, but being on break was way too much fun and relaxing and I never got the post completed. But at least I'm here for the Currently!

Having two meetings (one before and one after school) on the first day back from a break is just so energy draining. I can't think! I'm amazed I even made it through filling out the Currently!

Listening - Castle the TV show!

Loving - First grade just started our Gingerbread unit! We're going to read different versions of the Gingerbread story and then write our own! The kids are also learning a Gingerbread Man dance right now, and if we're lucky with donations, we will also get to decorate our own gingerbread cookies!

Thinking - Don't think this needs any explanation.

Wanting - My boyfriend just started his new job as a corrections officer. He is working night shifts (6pm-6am) so I don't get to talk to him every day anymore since he is at work when I'm asleep and vice versa. It's rough, but we'll figure it out!

Needing - Order Scholastic books for my students and wrote their holiday cards (made via Vistaprint). Just need to wrap them! Feeling so on top of things!

Giving - Too braindead to do anything but a shoutout!