Italy in 3...2...1

My lists saw me through and I am about 90% packed for Italy :) A car is picking us up at 2p.m. today to take us to the airport and our flight leaves at 5:30 p.m. It is an overnight flight, so hopefully I get some sleep. We should arrive in Rome at 7:30 a.m. tomorrow. I am bringing my MAC and will be blogging from Italy. The villa we are staying in has internet, I am just not sure how fast it will be :P

Yesterday was spent running around everywhere getting what we needed for the trip. Derek didn't have a suitcase so I used some of the money we made at the engagement party and bought him a piece of luggage. I figured it was a necessity! I also bought all the toiletries we will need, plus a pair of shoes or two for me :)

My day started with Trader Joe's wheat waffles topped with organic whipped butter and maple syrup. An orange on the side.

After breakfast I ran a quick 4 miles... it was the perfect day to run! Not to hot, with a tiny breeze. It felt great, especially because I downloaded some new music on my ipod. I tend to neglect my ipod and hardly feed it new music, so when I do, it's a big deal!

I also cleaned out our frig yesterday because I don't want anything smelly in there when we get back from our trip. We did a pretty good job of eating almost everything in our frig that was perishable except for these vegetables from TJ's.

I HATE wasting food, so I decided to use these to make lunch. I just mixed the potatoes, broccoli, and cauliflower with evoo, salt, pepper, oregano,  garlic, and hot pepper flakes. Then I roasted them for about 20 minutes and......... lunch was born...YUM!

 I just wanted to show you these Bride & Groom cookbooks Derek and I got as gifts at the engagement party. They have some cute entertaining ideas in them. Maybe I'll make some of the recipes when I get back :)

Most of the running around was done solo because Derek had to work yesterday. But once he got home we ran to the mall to pick him up a few things and we grabbed dinner at California Pizza Kitchen. I haven't been to a CPK in years! It is decent food- nothing fabulous- but good.

We started with the hummus and pita appetizer, and the sesame ginger dumpling appetizer. The sauce on the dumplings was great. I think I liked it because it was sweet and tangy- great combo in my book. The hummus had too strong of a lemon flavor.

As my main course I got the tricolor salad pizza. It was one of their thin crust pizzas topped with salad, Parmesan cheese shavings, tomatoes, and vinaigrette. This was very light and refreshing, I liked it a lot. I ate about three slices and packed the rest to take home.

As I write this post this morning, I am enjoying a cup of coffee and some toast w/ two oranges on the side. Yes two! because I don't want t throw them out :)

Time to finish packing and head to my moms. The car will be picking us up there. Have a great Friday!

List Maker

I am in the midst of making lists. Lots of lists. When I don't know what to do first - I make lists. I leave for Italy tomorrow and not one thing is packed. But no worries, my lists will see me through!

Yesterday was my last day with the students, it was more emotional than I thought it would be. This class will always hold a special place in my heart because they were my first class. Sometimes, I get lost in seeing how much of an impact I as a teacher have on them. At the end of the day yesterday, I told them how I was honored to be their teacher this year and that I will miss them. The tears that followed were unexpected. Seeing all those six year old tears made me burst into tears... let's just say it wasn't pretty.

It is amazing how as a teacher your students teach you just as much as you teach them. Because of them this year I have grown not only as a teacher, but as a person. Seeing my student's reactions yesterday at the fact that I will no longer be their teacher was one of the most rewarding days of my life. I was expecting more of the "YES! Summer Vacation" attitude. I mean I know they are little and only 1st graders and if I taught 5th grade it might be different, but it still was rewarding.

It was just one of those eye-opening days were you realize what is actually important in life. That you do have the power to make a difference and impact someone's life. I left work yesterday feeling good knowing that even if some of those student's left my class still struggling with writing and reading, they at least knew they were loved by their 1st grade teacher <3