Harumph.

    I apologize for being MIA for the last week or so, but it's become increasingly difficult for me to meet my Thursday post goal.  I have a lot going on right now with the holidays fast approaching and my education on the line, so unfortunately blogging hasn't been my top priority.  I haven't really been in the best mood and a lot has been getting me down lately.  I'm also very VERY behind in TV, (I've only been keeping up with Once Upon a Time at this point since it's the only one I can watch when it airs on Sundays).  I'll explain...
    As you know, I've been doing a year-long internship through my university at a local high school in the English department.  So far it's been an upward struggle, with my health declining and issues with overall teaching performance.  At this point, I've been given my class back and have been teaching mostly on my own for the last few weeks.  Unfortunately I have not been as successful as I would like to be at this point.  I'm still having noticeable issues with classroom management and the delivery of lessons.  I always think that I'm doing better than I actually am, which has hindered my progress.  Because of my substituting background, I've noticed that I tend to deliver lessons directly and methodically with little to no real explanation or real-world connection.  I need to work harder at humanizing the lessons for my students and making sure that we're using discussion adequately in class instead of just going through the motions.  I also need to start pulling the trigger with discipline.  I have a bunch of kids who talk over me during class and I need to take care of that as soon as possible before I lose them.  I wasn't expecting to have as much difficulty with this as I have been, but the reality is that my future is on the line at this point.  I'm not getting credit for this first semester until I prove myself worthy, so I really have to step it up and make these next few weeks count.  Luckily I still have some time, but I've been feeling really discouraged lately and uninspired.  My lack of progress and apparent noncompliance with the regulations set down by the program have made me doubt my abilities and it's really stressing me out, to be blunt.  Hopefully I can get my shit together soon or I'll be looking at repeating the internship next year and adding another year of school to my already mounting college debt.  I understand what's at stake and that's not making me any less anxious and stressed, but maybe that's what I need.  I don't want to panic, but I might be by the end of Christmas vacation, which is not what I want.  Keep your fingers crossed for me that I make it out of this alive and worth certifying, or I'm going to be looking for a new career path when it's too late...

    Besides the obvious problems I'm having with teaching, I really don't have a lot going on.  We recently moved, (another reason I haven't been on top of the blog lately), and have been unpacking for the last few weeks as we get settled in.  So far it's been really nice and comfortable and I really appreciate where we live now.  I don't come home to an empty, cold apartment and I have access to a great kitchen stocked with food, so I really can't complain.  Having animals again has been nice too!  Money has also been less of an issues, at least on my end, and I've been working on saving as much as I can already and reorganizing my finances so they fit my new needs.  My project for this weekend is finishing reorganizing my filing crate so I can fit all my bills, paperwork and other things in one accessible spot.  It's also been nice to have some extra help and expertise with these types of things because most of the time, when it comes to budgets and other adult things, I have NO idea what I'm doing yet.  Still trying to figure out a new routine for our new space, but so far I think we're settling in nicely and everything will eventually feel more natural.

    I'm looking forward to the holiday break mostly.  Next week is my birthday week, so I have that to look forward to.  I'm turning 25, which for some people is a big deal, but I feel like it'll just be another birthday for me.  I don't really know what age I actually feel like; sometimes I feel like I'm still 18 and other times I feel like I'm 30, so 25 should be interesting.  The following week there's a day and a half of school before break starts Wednesday.  After that, we don't come back until January 5th.  It will be nice to spend more time with my family and hopefully put the worries I have about my teaching future out of my mind for a few weeks.  My little sister is flying home from Texas on Saturday and I can't wait to see her!  Spending the holidays with family is greater than any gift I could receive.  It took me a long time to realize what Christmas should be about and I'm glad that we get to see everyone from both sides and spend a little time with each family.  It's worth it to me and that's all I really need.  That and lots of great food:)

    Once Upon a Time was really emotional last weekend!  I wasn't expecting what happened, and I love when shows do that because it keeps you on your toes.  With the last few episodes being very straightforward and predictable, it was nice to see a change.  I was getting pretty sick of the crazy family-hungry snow queen thing and it was heartbreaking to find out her sister really regretted her actions form the past.  The last time we saw that bottle was the very beginning of the season, so I had been curious to see what she had written in the letter, but I hadn't expected that.  I also wasn't expecting the flashbacks to Emma's past and the fact that Ingrid was very close to adopting her.  I can understand why Ingrid took Emma's memories upon her arrival to Storybrooke.  Now that the curse has been lifted due to Ingrid sacrificing herself, everything seems to be back to normal.  But wait!  Rumple is STILL a conniving bastard!  For next week's mid-season finale, I'm predicting Rumple attempting to take over the world one more time and get that dagger off his back, someone finding out about him lying to everyone, spreading that around and it getting back to Emma, who will have to stop him with the help of everyone else in town.  Elsa and Anna will probably help too before they go back to Arendelle to return those memories.  I'm hoping we at least see the Sorcerer or something because we've kind of taken a back-seat to the whole "author of the book" mystery, so that's the only other curiosity I had.  We'll see what happens, but I anticipate a lot of Rumple hatred next week.
    That's all I have for you this week.  I had to take some time and write this during school so I don't leave you guys hanging again.  I'm not sure if there will be continuous posts from me every week, but I will try to post at least one more time before Christmas break starts.  Hopefully I'll have some good updates for you.  Until next time, I remain your faithful correspondent.

Reviews Galore!

    Hey all!  I promise I'm not rushing this time, (even though it seems like Tuesday's post did pretty well for itself, all things considered).  I start my last set of classes on Tuesday, so this may very well be the last random post for the winter vacation.  We'll see how much work I have next week.

    The first thing I'd like to address is that it's my Nana's birthday today.  She would've been 71 today if she hadn't passed away three years ago tomorrow.  I miss her a lot and sometimes I wish she was still here so I could ask her questions and get her opinion on things.  I know I'm an adult and I should be able to think for myself, but sometimes everyone needs a second opinion.  I was her oldest grandchild and shouldered a lot of responsibility.  I took today off because I wanted to celebrate her life rather than her death and so that I could go see her because I haven't in awhile.  I usually bring her flowers because she loved them so much and I hope the little pop of color will help her think of spring and of all the gardening we used to do together.  I'm still somewhat bitter about the amount of time we got to spend together before we were rudely interrupted, however I am grateful I at least got to say goodbye.  I love you now and forever always Nana<3

    So to keep myself happy and in good spirits today, I will start out with my review of the latest Bachelor, as promised on Tuesday.  I would like to take a moment and recognize a select few ladies for their potential and their utter embarrassment on public television.  SPOILER ALERT!!!!!

•   Claire- I like Claire, really I do, but I feel like she's just way too into this.  Everything excites her and she seems to be impervious to any negativity whatsoever.  This could be a good thing in the long run, but I found her to be very annoying for her first one-on-one with Juan Pablo.  She seems to have it set in her mind that he's already perfect for her and that he could be "the Juan" she's been longing for after only about a week, so we'll see if she lasts.
• Renee and Cassandra- I like these two because they are "the moms" of the group and they have that in common with Juan Pablo.  He treats them differently because they have children and he understands where they are coming from on a deeper level than any of the other ladies can understand, so for that I commend them for taking the risk.  I know that he can't chose both of them and although Cassandra has shown remarkable maturity for a 21-year-old, I think that Renee would be a better fit for him and his little girl.  We'll see if I'm right.
• Nikki- She is a little ball of sunshine, (not in the almost fake way that Claire demonstrates), but it's manageable and controlled.  Juan seems to like her a lot and she's obviously great with children being a pediatric nurse, so I feel like she'll go far if he doesn't get too attached to some of the other ladies.
• Lucy- What a gem this one is.  I'm all for being comfortable with your body, but unfortunately we don't live in a world where public displays of nudity are acceptable, (outside of nude beaches and certain European countries).  I like her attitude thus far; she seems nice, genuine and relaxed, not at all caddy or anxious about dates and what-not.  But I honestly don't see her as proper mom material for Camila, so I think that's the ultimate deal-breaker for me with her.  That and the fact that her job as a "free spirit" probably won't go over very well with him either.
• Victoria- I AM SO GLAD SHE'S GONE.  I actually had high hopes for her, being 24 and from Brazil she seemed to have at least something in common with Juan Pablo.  Alas, I was terribly wrong...who would've known she was an adult?  Her behavior at the group date was appalling to say the least and reminded me of something you might have seen in The Real World house, rather than The Bachelor.  Definitely not mommy material and the self-inflicted dramatic rampage was completely unnecessary.  Have a nice flight back home to Miami.

    Those are my immediate thoughts so far after seeing the last episode.  If you want to read a great and thorough recap, check it out here at Entertainment Weekly.  Literally made me laugh out loud reading it.  Can't get enough of that satire!

    Another review I wanted to do was for the new Pokemon Y game for the Nintendo 3DS, which I purchased yesterday, (after almost no deliberation).  Yes, I am an adult and yes, it's awesome.  After about 24 hours I've accumulated 84 Pokemon in my Pokedex, one gym badge and a new fossilized Pokemon that I am very excited about, (he's called a Tyrunt and he will eventually evolve into a Tyrannosaurus Rex-type thing).  I've logged about 9 hours of game play so far and I'm very impressed with the graphics and overall layout of the game.  I am currently in Ambrette Town getting ready to move onto the next coastal city.

    If you're curious, the three starter Pokemon you are given to chose from are Chespin, (grass-type rodent thing), Froakie, (water-type frog thing), and Fennekin, (fire-type fox thing).  As opposed to the Professor of this region giving you the choice of one of these three Pokemon, your characters meets with his or her friends to decide amongst themselves.  It's a weird concept, but I understood why after we met with the Professor and he gave us three more Pokemon to choose from: Bulbasaur, Charmander and Squirtle.  To say that I was excited would've been an understatement.  After having a coronary, I chose Charmander, (obviously).  I have always chosen fire-type or water-type Pokemon from each game, so I got to choose both this time.  For my main Pokemon I chose Froakie, solely because it was a frog and it was adorable.

    I used to nickname all my Pokemon, but I now find that to be tiring because there are about 12,000 more Pokemon now than when I started back in 1998, so I stuck to nicknaming just a few so far.  My Froakie's name is Remy, (something French, so I used Remy LeBeau as inspiration because it's a ninja frog).  I named my Charmander Drogon because it'll eventually become a fearsome dragon lord due to Mega Evolution, which is also new to this series.  Only certain Pokemon can mega evolve and you have to possess a certain stone to make it happen.  For example, in each game, Pokemon X or Y, Charizard mega-evolves differently, (see picture above).  Depending on which game you get, the mega evolutions vary.  I'm excited to see what other special secrets there are in the game as I go along.

    Another thing I like about the game is that you can connect wirelessly with anyone else who has either game to trade, battle, etc.  I remember the good old days of linking up with cords and you had to sit right across from someone to battle them on a tiny screen.  Now you can be worlds away with the right Internet connection and battle in 3D.  Pretty neat, huh?  I haven't met anyone else who has this game, so let me know in the comments if you do so we can play together!  I'm still figuring out how all this new technology works, so bare with me, (I haven't used a Gameboy since they were still called Gameboys...).

    So that's my post for today.  Now I'm going to grab some lunch and see how much farther I can get within a reasonable hour; I ended up losing track of time last night and played until 3am...not good.  If you have any comments, tips or predictions about The Bachelor or Pokemon X or Y, let me know in the comments!  Until next time, I remain your faithful correspondent.

Partying Like It's My Birthday! (No, Really...)

    That's right, I'm officially DONE with my fall semester!  One more semester to go before my full-year internship next year.  It seems like I still have so much to do, but I also feel like I'm in the home stretch...it's a weird feeling I can't really explain.  It doesn't seem like much, but I know that when I'm really done, it'll be for good.  Until then, I'll be enjoying my winter vacation as best I can and looking forward to another great semester in January.

(Does this look plowed to you?)

    Apparently the weather is against us up here in New Hampshire.  Did I mention it's not supposed to get above 20 degrees today?!  We had a mild blizzard this past weekend where we got at least a foot of snow in some places and we're expected to get more snow this afternoon, so I might be snowed in again today.  I don't mind too much, I just hate clearing off my car...  My husband is one of those guys who feels obligated to shovel everyone out so that the other tenants can get to where they need to go.  Just based on that, I know I bagged myself a good one.  Thanks to the shoddy work the plowing company did on our driveway, (or didn't do).  I'm grateful that my own spot is clear, but as for the other two tenants, they have to shovel themselves out I guess.  You had one job plow guys.

    So far in our decorating endeavors we added a few things to our collection.  A nice door mount complete with white poinsettias and pine cones as well as some twinkly icicle lights to hang somewhere in our living room.  Unfortunately, we're in desperate need of more outlets and extension cords.  Luckily my father hooked us up with an extra power strip, so we might be able to plug our tree and the lights into that, but we'll see when it's all done.  I'll be sure to take more pictures!

    This week is special to me not only because finals are over, but because my birthday is on Thursday!  I will be 24 and I know that's not a huge deal or anything, but I definitely feel it this time.  Because my birthday is in December, I've always been bombarded with storms and winter weather, ruining any real plans.  This year it looks like I'll be free from the torment of Father Winter and finally be able to enjoy my birthday.  So far I have plans with my father for breakfast and his famous pancakes, finishing up my Christmas shopping, a lovely trip down to Boston for a nice dinner date with my husband and spending some quality time with my mother, whom I haven't actually seen on my birthday in about six years.  My birthday memories with her are my fondest; she used to call me out of school and we'd go wherever I wanted all day.  I'm really excited to get to spend time with her again.  It's been far too long.
    So that's my recap for the past few days.  I'm really looking forward to all the fun things I'll get to do this week and knowing Christmas is literally right around the corner makes it even sweeter!  I'm so excited this year and now I feel like I can finally enjoy the holidays!  Christmas cards have been sent, (major wife points right there), and presents have begun to be wrapped, so it's only a matter of time!  Our first Christmas as husband and wife has been so rewarding to me thus far, and it'll only get better:)  Check out Thursday's Blogmas post where I will list my Top 5 Christmas movies!  Until next time, I remain your faithful Christmas correspondent.