Ramblings of a Thirty-Something

It's been a while since I've posted about my summer vacation in Europe, and as I was going through my pictures, I realized I only posted about a small portion of the trip. I covered the part of our trip through France, but I haven't yet touched on the other two countries we visited. So, on we go! After we left Paris, we were headed for Munich, Germany. Our train stopped about halfway between because there was an "obstruction on the tracks." We never really found exactly what that meant, but we ended up making it to Munich in one piece. Our hotel was easy to get to on the S-Bahn--only a short walk from the train station. If you are every in Munich, I highly recommend the LetoMotel. Ours was very new and very nice--our room even featured a rainwater shower head. It was quite wonderful, but the best part was actually not part of the hotel. Next to the hotel, there was a bakery called Wimmer, and that was were we took our breakfast, as part of the hotel stay. It was

If you have followed my blog for a while, you might recall that I enjoy posting about how I decorate my classroom. For the past two years, my classroom was Tolkien themed (see here ), but this year I decided to go in a different direction. Not all of my students had seen The Hobbit  or Lord of the Rings  movies, and I wanted something 99% of them could get excited about (okay, so maybe it's only 75%, but it works).  This year, I went with superheroes. Superheroes are everywhere now, so it wasn't hard to find things that worked in my room. Thanks to Pinterest, I created some pretty incredible bulletin boards, and I had a lot of helping finding things at the teacher store (thanks, Katie and Mallory!). Take a look:  I could have included loads more pictures of every time piece of superhero-related paraphernalia which decorates my walls, but I decided to refrain. I want to focus, however, on a quote that is on one of my posters:   This is my

I love school holidays. Columbus Day, President's Day, MLK Day...they're all great! There is just something about being able to sleep in on a Monday morning that is truly euphoric. A holiday feels so different than just a regular weekend day--weekends are usually reserved for errands and church and general running-around. You always have them, and so there are always things that need to get done on a weekend. But a free Monday--now that is truly a gift! I'm notorious for doing everything I have  to do on the weekend so my Monday is completely clear for whatever I want  to do. And when it's bitterly cold outside, I don't feel nearly as guilty when I don't leave the house. I had about four things I wanted/needed to do today:  get my oil changed, finish the book I'm reading, write, and catch up on my DVRed shows. Last night being a Sunday, I had an episode of Downton Abbey  to watch, of course, but I also had the premiere of a new mini-series that has me

Over Christmas break, I was carefully examining every facet of my life and deciding what I needed to improve over the coming year. I know, I know...you're all thinking, "How could anything be improved? Kaitlin is perhaps the most awesome, well-read, talented person that I know. I wish I could be like her." Or maybe you are thinking something else...like, "Thank goodness! What a mess...I could give her a humongous  list of improvements to make." Because, if you haven't figured it out yet, everybody in the world thinks in two, very opposite ways, and only those two ways. Or at least they do in my brain. Anyway, one of the things I focused on was my blog here. Now, I don't want to brag, but since it's my blog, I can do whatever I want, and you just have to read it. Or don't read it. Please read my blog...as I was saying, I don't want to brag, but I feel like I've been doing a good job for these past two weeks of posting frequently (not too

So you know how every day anymore is some kind of "holiday?" Like how Monday was "Clean off your Desk Day" (which I totally should have celebrated) and Sunday is the official "Ditch your Resolution Day" (just in case you wanted an official day for that). And we all know that March is "Women's History Month" (which should be celebrated way more than it is...and if you didn't know that March is Women's History Month, then you learned something today). Well, get excited people, because January is...wait for it...HOT TEA MONTH!!!!! Did you just throw confetti and squeal with joy? Oh wait, just me? Alright, moving on... Yes, ladies and gentlemen, January is Hot Tea Month. In case you're wondering, it is also Oatmeal Month, Creativity Month, and Get Organized Month. Which is a crazy coincidence, since I've had oatmeal every day this week with my morning cuppa. And I've also been trying to get organized and be more creative

Living for the weekend is kind of something you do as a teacher (or any person who works Monday through Friday). And there are many good reasons to do so! I mean, you get to sleep in and wear yoga pants and not put on makeup--Saturdays are pretty wonderful. Sundays are always a special day, too, for many reasons. I mean, sure, Sunday nights are kind of a bummer since you know you have to get up for work the next morning (cue the tears),  but between church, football, and  Once Upon a Time , what else could anyone need? Actually, I can think of one thing. One thing that has been sorely missed over the last several months. One big, gaping hole in my life that has finally been addressed. That's right, everybody. Downton Abbey  is back. And while we all get back to our weekly rituals for watching, I thought it would be fun to list, in no particular order, my ten favorite Downton  characters. I say no particular order because it changes week to week, episode to episode. Although m

It's January 7th. One week into our new year. How are you doing with your resolutions? C'mon, you can be honest. This is a safe space. They say it takes 21 days to make something a habit, so we're a third of the way there! This year, I decided not to make any official resolutions. I didn't make a list saying that I wanted to work out three times a week, write 1000 words a day (which is not really as much as it seems...actually, it's about the length of your average blog post, or a page and a half on a Google Doc). I've done that a lot of years, and that just never works for me. As you might have read (or might not have read) in my first post of the year, I wrote about living intentionally. That is my resolution, essentially, for the year. And one of my Christmas gifts is helping me to do that. Friends, family, if you are on Pinterest, I highly recommend that you make a board for yourself of gift ideas. It's an easy way to bring things to people's a

I have a confession to make. I'm about to bore you to tears. Okay, maybe not literally, but I'm writing about something I find terribly exciting, and there are those of you, dear readers, who may not agree. So I'm giving you an out. Right now, just stop reading. Is anyone still there? Good. Because we're about to get "knotty." I love to knit. There, I said it. If I could do nothing but knit, read, write, and drink tea, I'd be a very contented person. Not exciting, just contented. I've been knitting for a few years now. I wish I could say I learned from my grandmother or something that sounds much better than "I learned from Youtube." Actually, that doesn't sound too bad--Youtube is pretty indispensable when it comes to knitting. You can watch videos of all the stitches, which makes it easier to catch on sometimes. Up until recently, though, my knitting has not been varied. I knit scarves (the essential beginner project). I've

Another year has come around--isn't it exciting to think about all the things 2016 has in store? I realize I have been noticeably absent from my blog as of late. Well, at least I noticed...perhaps no one else did, and that's okay. Because it makes my next few paragraphs a little easier. I sat down at my computer (and by "sat down at it," I mean "sat on my bed with it in my lap," but that's a bit wordy) many, many times over the last few months. I had ideas for posts, but none of them seemed...worthy, I guess. And compared to everything else that was going on in my life over the last five or six months, writing in my blog seemed frivolous. Not exactly a waste of time, but I felt guilty, as if instead of indulging myself by writing, I should be doing other things...spending time with other people so I wouldn't have any regrets. Not that anyone ever made me feel that way, but we all know how it is...the things we think in our head are not always w