Where is the counselor sign?

Hello everyone! I can't believe I am starting my third week as a school counselor! It is so nice to finally be working and using everything I have learned. There are also so many things you can't learn until you are actually on the job. But considering I am coming in so late in the year I feel like I am doing pretty good. I love the children I work with. They are so sweet!

One of the things I knew I would need right away is a where is the counselor sign. The first week or so I was there I would just stick a post-it note on my door when I went out of the room. I started a pile of notes I was just trading out. Well I didn't like the way that looked. So it was time to put my craftiness to work! I saw a few on Pinterest but they just weren't want I was looking for. I also didn't want to spend a ton of time working on it. I wanted something that was not only easy to make but that also didn't take up alot of space and that I could flip around easily. I made the rectangle cards out of card stock I had in my scrapbooking stuff. Then I typed the words on a word doc. and printed them off. I used funky scissors to make it look fun. Glued it all together, laminated, and hole punched. So see the pictures below and I hope you get inspired to make your own :)

This is where I eat lunch when I actually have the chance to eat lunch with other teachers :)

The nice part about it being laminated is I can write on it with dry erase markers! 

New Job!

Wow I can't believe how long it has been since I have posted! I have been so slack this semester. I have thought about doing a blog post so many times but I have usually been too tired to mess with it once I have gotten home.

Well my internship is wrapping up. It has been such a good experience and I have been able to work with some great counselors. I learned a lot and was able to do a lot! It is sad leaving when you feel like you are finally getting a feel for the school and getting to know the staff. However, it leads to bigger and better things. Like a job! But more on that later. One of the things I have done during my internship is help make several bulletin boards. It makes me sad when they are empty or messy. Here are some of the ones I did.

I found this idea and all the materials for it online. Sadly I can't find what I did with the link.  I think if I redo this for elementary I will not have so much writing. But I still like it for middle :)

This is suppose to look like an ipod and have apps for different test taking tips. I thought it was an interesting idea. 

I made this one for the ISS room. I thought it would be good for the students to see while they sit there instead of class because of their behavior. 

So the past few weeks have been crazy because I got a job! As a school counselor! I had applied back in February and the principal at the middle school I had been at for internship called that principal on my behalf! I was called a while later and asked to come in for an interview and offered the job that day! Now before you get too excited it is only temporary until the end of the year. However, they are going to try and keep me and offer me the permanent job. Keep your fingers crossed for me! I have only been at the school for a week but so far I am really enjoying it. It was hard to leave the middle school early but I couldn't help but jump on this opportunity. 

Easy Meal for Lent! "Baked" Potato Soup

Hey everyone! I have managed to finally cook something new! Well I have been making it for several years but this is the first time since I started this blog I have made it. I made "Baked" Potato soup the other night for my parents and they LOVED it! It is so super easy! I actually found it in a magazine pull out. I am pretty sure it is an advertisement for a Southern Living Cookbook haha. But that doesn't really matter. All that matters is this is a yummy filling meal that is perfect to tweak for Lent or to be vegetarian friendly. The recipe calls to use chicken broth but if you are Catholic like me, or are vegetarian, you can use a vegetable broth instead and it is still just as good :)

"Baked" Potato Soup
Ingredients:

-6 Large russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes- 1 large onion, chopped (about 1.5 cups)- 3 (14 oz) cans chicken broth with roasted garlic (or vegetable broth)- 1/4 cup butter- 2.5 teaspoons salt- 1.25 teaspoons freshly ground pepper- 1 cup whipping cream or half and half- 1 cup (4 oz) shredded sharp cheddar cheese- 3 Tablespoons chopping fresh chives- 1 (8oz) container sour cream (optional)- 4 bacon slices, cooked and crumbled- Extra shredded cheese

Directions:
1. Combine first 6 ingredients in a 5 quart slow cooker.
2. Cover and cook on HIGH 4 hours or on LOW 8 hours or until potatoes are tender. 
3. Mash mixture until potatoes are coarsely chopped and soup is slightly thickened; stir in cream, cheese, and chives. Top with sour cream if desired, and sprinkle with bacon and Cheddar cheese before serving. 

Where to start!

Hello world! I feel like the past couple post I have talked about how busy I have been. Well I have been busier than ever. I can't remember if I put on here that my parents sold my childhood home. They sold it the first day it was on the market! How crazy is that! The people who bought the house were nice enough to let us spend one more Christmas in the house and stay in the house until the end of January when the new house was ready to move into. My parents bought a new house in Holly Springs so it isn't too far from where we were before. I was really sad about the move at first because we had spent 20 years in that house and its the house I have almost all of my childhood memories in. Now we are in the new house and have been in here for a couple of weeks. It is finally starting to look and feel like home now that more and more of the boxes are getting unpacked. I know my parents will be glad when it is all unpacked and things they way they want.

To make things even crazier I have also started my school counseling internship at the middle school just down the road from the new house. I love my internship! I have been very thankful that I had a good school and a good group of counselors to work with. I have gotten to see and do so much already and I have only been there a little over a month. I wasn't sure how much I would really like middle school but I am quickly finding out that I do really enjoy it. Middle school drama and all. All of the things we remember about middle school are still going on and it seems that there is almost more drama thanks to new technology (mainly cell phones) and social media sites. I have been doing some lessons on cyber bullying with the 8th grade students. Really all of the students need to get this lesson because it is crazy how often we are dealing with kids cyber bullying each other. I feel bad for the kids who are bullied because even at home they can't get away. But that is why I am doing this job to help out the kids that need my help. I haven't started looking for jobs again yet so I need to get on that soon. I would be awesome if I could get a job lined up for next year. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

And to make things even crazier than that my middle sister Erin and her husband Jeff are going to have a baby boy at the end of this month! And on top of that they sold their house within the first week or so it was on the market so they need to find and move into a new house by the middle of March! So my family is all just a little crazy going a million miles a minute trying to have things ready and settled for Baby Parker to get here. We are all so excited for them as it is their first baby!

Ok enough about the crazy and a little about the fun that has been going on. I got on a major crocheting kick around Christmas and it honestly hasn't ended yet. I finished crocheting my blanket! I still have to tie off all the little strings but the hard part is done! I can't believe I finished it. When I started the blanket I honestly wasn't sure I would finish it. It is by far the biggest thing I have made. I can't wait to start on my next big project. I want to make my niece and nephew blankets. In the mean time I have been trying to make an infinity scarf but it is rather tricky and I can't find a pattern I'm totally in love with. I have made a coaster so far. I know not exciting but I needed a coaster for my new room.

As you can see the blanket is pretty big:)
I will post a better picture latter.

Here are the links I used for the two projects. I found both patterns on Pinterest of course :) What did I do before that website?! The blanket pattern came from Mam' Zelle Flo and it is a Diagonal Pattern. The coaster I made is a star stick that I learned from the Free Vintage Crochet website. They had a great video that was super helpful!

Here is the coaster with the star stitch patter. I used a pretty small crochet hook because I wanted it to be tight. I might try it will a bigger hook for a scarf soon. 

New Orleans Bowl!

Man it has for sure been a crazy busy couple of weeks. Right before Christmas I went to New Orleans with some friends for ECU's bowl game. This was the first big game I have been to without my parents or as a part of the Marching Pirates. Even though everyone I went with except one was in the band with me haha. Band nerds unite! Even though ECU did not win the game we still had a great trip and alot of fun. The car rides were kind of long but it was worth it to hang out with some friends I hadn't seen some of them in years! Here are a few of our pictures! 

These first two are from Natalie and I's pre road trip dinner with her family. We went to look at Christmas lights. 

My favorite haha

Group shot before the game!

We got photo bombed but it was kind of a cute picture still! 

We were right behind the cannon at first! 

PeeDee!

Did I mention that we were on row 2? And right next to the band which was ok by us since we are all band nerds!

Group shot! Aaaarrrggghh!

Post game but before dinner and fun!

Group shot in the hotel lobby before dinner.

We had an awesome waiter so we needed a picture with him!

Yet another photo bomb! That was awesome!

We found the perfect blues bar for Pirate fans!

Cheese! 

Christmas Crafts

Hello everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! Now that Christmas has past I can finally post pictures of the crafting I have done before the holidays. All of my crafting was presents so it was a little hard to post pictures before the holidays. I have gotten really into the whole mesh wreath making. To buy one of these wreaths in the stores is like a good $50 or so, but it looked easy enough to make so I thought I would give it a try. There were also tons of diy instructions on Pinterest. If you want to learn how to make your own you can google it or if you are as addicted to Pinterest you can check out links on there. With it being so long ago when I started them I do not remember what links I watched first. 

This is the ECU wreath I made for my Mom. She already had a Christmas one so I went with ECU instead. Go Pirates!

This is the one I made for my Site Super Visor at my practicum site. I had shown her pictures of the others I had made and she tried making her own. So I made one for her :)

This one looks kind of crazy. I made this for my oldest sister Jennifer. I need to get a picture of it hanging either on her door or in her house. Then I don't think it will look so crazy. But this one took forever to make! I took it apart like 3 times!

I made this one for my middle sister Erin. She also had a Christmas wreath so I decided to make her's more winter than Christmas. The ones like this are really easy to make. 

Holiday Favorites!

Hello everyone! I told you I would be back more now that I am not stressed about classes and studying!  And as promised I have been doing alot of baking. One of the wonderful things about Christmas is you can bake a bunch of different things and it is totally ok! The first thing I have made this year is Snicker Doodle cookies (the recipe calls them Santa's SNICKERS Brand Surprises but thats too complicated) and Almond Cookies. I also made a sour cream pound cake but I don't have a great picture of that one... Maybe I will still share it ;)

Snicker Doodles
Ingredients:
- 2 sticks butter (softened)
- 1 cup creamy peanut butter
- 1 cup light brown sugar
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- 3.5 cups all purpose flour (shifted)
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1 package (13 oz) SNICKERS Brand Miniatures

Directions:
1. Combine the butter, peanut butter, and sugars using a mixer on a medium to low speed until light and fluffy.
2. Slowly add eggs and vanilla until throughly combined. Then mix in flour, salt, and baking soda.
3. Cover and chill dough for 2-3 hours.
4. Un-warp all the SNICKERS.
5. Remove dough from refrigerator. Divide into 1 tbls. pieces and flatten.
6. Place a SNICKERS in the center of each piece of dough.
7. Form the dough into a ball around each SNICKERS.
8. Place on a greased cookie sheet and bake at 300 degree for 10-12 minutes.
9. Let cookies cool on baking rack or wax paper.
*Makes about 2 dozen cookies

Almond Glazed Sugar Cookies:
Ingredients for Cookies:                               Ingredients for Glaze:
- 1 cup butter (softened)                               - 1.5 cups powered sugar
- 3/4 cup sugar                                             - 1 tsp. almond extract
- 1 tsp. almond extract                                 - 4 to 5 tsp. water
- 2 cups all purpose four                              - Sliced almonds
- 1/2 tsp. baking powder
- 1/4 tsp. salt

Directions:
1. Combine butter, sugar, and almond extract in large mixing bowl. Beat at medium speed, scraping bowl often, until creamy. (1 to 2 minutes).
2. Reduce speed to low; add all remaining cookie ingredients. beat until well mixed (1 to 2 minutes).
3. Roll dough into 1-inch balls. Place 2 inches apart on cookie sheet.
4. Flatten balls into 1/4 inch thickness with the bottom of buttered glass dipped in sugar.
5. Bake at 400 degree for 7 to 9 minutes or until edges are very lightly browned.
6. Cool 1 minute; remove from cookie sheets. Cool Completely
7. Stir together all glaze ingredients in small bowl, with wire whisk.
8. Decorate cooled cookies with glaze and sliced almonds. Glaze sets up quickly so frost and decorate a few at a time.
* Makes 3.5 dozen.

Sour Cream Coffee Cake
Cake Mix:                                                       Topping:
- 1 cup butter                                                  - 1 cup chopped nuts
- 2 cups sugar                                                - 1/4 tsp cinnamon
- 2 eggs                                                         - 2 T. brown sugar
- 1 cup Sour Cream                                    
- 1/2 tsp. vanilla
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 2 cups flour
- 1/4 tsp. salt

Directions:
1. Mix together ingredients for topping and set aside.
2. Cream together butter and sugar until fluffy.
3. Add one egg at a time and mix until smooth.
4. Mix together sour cream and vanilla and fold into butter mixture.
5. Sift together baking powder, flour, and salt and fold into mixture.
6. Grease flour tube pan. Pur 1/2 batter, 1/2 topping, 1/2 batter and rest of topping.
7. Bake at 350 degrees for about an hour. Make sure it is done.
8. Cool completely and remove from pan.