You've Gotta Read Twilight!

All the cheerleaders kept talking about these books and Kim (the other sponsor) raved about them too, so I had to try them. OMG, I got so addicted to them! I've only read the first two books in the series because Walmart is sold out of the last two and there's no Books-A-Million in Greenville. Guess I could order it online...

It's the Twilight saga by Stephenie Meyer and it's really a teenage book, I guess. But it's so good. It's about vampires but I couldn't put it down. I have read Twilight and New Moon and have Eclipse and Breaking Down to go. I haven't been able to read them in over a week and I'm having Edward and Bella withdrawals. I dreamed about these books and kept rewriting the chapters in my dreams and trying to figure out what would happen next. I even wanted Edward to bite me! Anyway, try it and let me know what you think! Twilight the movie opens November 21 and I can't wait! I hope it doesn't disappoint me.

Gatlinburg Trip

No, we didn't elope! That seemed to be everyone's question! We just had a nice, relaxing, romantic trip! No more exclamation marks for a while. We left at 6:30 Saturday morning and I slumbered until about 9:30! I was so tired from the game the night before (which was in Demopolis). Then I read my Twilight book (which you HAVE to read). And Troy continued to drive!

When we finally got there we went to our adorable cabin and unpacked, walked around outside and then drove on in to Gatlinburg. We went in a bunch of cute little shops and I don't know why I didn't even buy anything. But I should have. Then we went in a little coffee shop and I got some yummy Mocha Latte and Troy had some awesome apple cider. Downtown Gatlinburg is so cute. We just looked around everywhere.

Then we went back to the cabin and relaxed in the hottub with a glass of wine. It was so nice to be looking out over the mountain in the quiet coziness of our own hottub with nothing around! Then I wanted to get in the cute lil' claw foot tub and read so I did, and did, and did. I'm telling you I couldn't put that book down!

Sunday we drove to Cade's Cove, which is a national park in the Smokies. It's a one-way little road 11 miles long that has old cabins, churches, and lots of wildlife. We saw deer and turkeys but no bears :( We had packed a picnic lunch of pimento & cheese and turkey sammies and ate on top of a gently-rolling hill. hee hee Then we went back to our cabin and grilled steak and sweet potatoes and got in the hottub some more and then we snuggled!

It was a wonderful trip and we didn't do a whole lot but relax which is what we both wanted! Oh yea, and I got up every morning and cooked an awesome breakfast complete with bacon, eggs, grits, and blueberry/strawberry muffins and we drank coffee outside on the deck. Sorry, Casey. I only included one link.

Going to Gatlinburg!

We're going to Gatlinburg next weekend for a little getaway! I can't wait! We're going during the peak season when all the leaves are changing colors and falling off of the trees. We are pretty much just going to hang out at the cabin and relax in the hot tub and wake up drinking coffee in the rockers on the backporch that overlook the Smokies! We may go hiking at Alum Cave Bluff (yes, I can even insert a link!) Sunday and take a cute little picnic lunch. I got a GREAT deal on a beautiful cabin near Pigeon Forge. We are leaving early Saturday morning since I have a game Friday night and we're coming home Monday afternoon. W.O. Parmer will just have to do without me for one day.

Troy's Dove Shoot

Troy is a hunter. Turkeys, dove, deer, rabbits, elk, moose, dogs, cats--EVERYTHING! So he's having a dove shoot right now behind his house. He and Tristen (his son) and a few friends are sitting together in the hot sun waiting on the poor birdies to fly over so they can kill them. Then Buck goes and retrieves them and they have to clean them. I actually ate some of those "dove's breats" and they had bullet holes all in them. Not my cup of tea. Neither is hunting. But they enjoy it so I will deal with it! They only thing I like about it is that I'm going to hang Santa hats on the mounted deer at Christmas and they'll look so cute like Rudolph!

Blogging Late Bloomer

Well now I've got a blog too. I've just loved reading Casey's blog novels and seeing Sophie updates on Jill's blog, so I decided to make one too. Only, there's really not a lot going on to talk about! No babies or hubby yet to talk about, but I do have an amazing boyfriend, Troy, I co-sponsor the cheerleaders and teach second grade, so those will probably be my only topics!

Whoever thinks that teachers have it made have no idea what they are talking about. School this year has kept me exceedingly busy. We have a whole new reading program, Reading Street, and I spend just about all my free time preparing for it. The only way we've been able to make it through each day's lessons are by making PowerPoints where we basically put the whole Teacher's Edition on the show. I did last week's story and worked on it for approximately seven hours (and I'm pretty ppt saavy). In addition to a new reading program, we are also implementing AMSTI into our science and math. We had to go to AMSTI training (Alabama Math, Science, and Technology Institute?) this summer for two exciting weeks, let me tell you. I feel like I spend every waking minute working on school stuff. And I have to to be the best teacher that I can. There is just NO WAY someone could just roll in around 7:30 and leave by 3:30 and have their kids learn anything. If you have children, let their teachers know how much you appreciate them! Most of Alabama has the same new stuff we have and everyone is overwhelmed! I've had to spend several Saturdays at school preparing since August. But I love teaching and can't imagine doing anything else. Second graders are so loving (well, most are) and they just love to hug you and call you "mama!" They are at the age where they like learning and pleasing.

I sponsor a little Pep Squad at school and we practice every Wednesday after school. The club is made up of kindergarten, first and second graders who want to cheer! They are so cute! Those little kindergarteners don't hardly know a thing, though! They just jump around and yell! I've taught them about 10 cheers and we practice jumps and motions. They love to do "Little Sally Walker" and dance. I let them cheer before the high school games, pregame and get in the Spirit Line. Since I'm also co-sponsoring the Varsity cheerleaders, it works out well! The Pep Squad also marched in our homecoming parade and did a fabulous job!