The Blog is Back, People

Being up at 6:00 am on a Sunday over Christmas break means only one thing.................

The blog is back, people!!!*

*Insert cheers of two loyal devoted readers here!

I'm not too proud to admit that my teacher sleep schedule this week has been wrecked by:

1) The likes of my Pinterest-addicted self (if butter-laden recipes and chalkboard paint projects are wrong I don't wanna be right).

2) Access to Netflix movies such as the 90s classic "Sliding Doors" with Gwyneth Paltrow (remember those days when she was dating Brad Pitt and they had EXACTLY the same hairdo???),

3) And the fact that I stayed up until 4:00 am Friday night at the best Christmas/Dan's 30th birthday/End of the World party ever.

Highlights of that evening include getting to wear the gold sequin skirt I bought for the occasion, which maaaaay be my favorite purchase of 2012, playing "Would You Rather" for hours, and laughing hysterically about the selfies that my friends took on my iPhone. I toyed with writing a whole blogitty blog entry about this party, but if I posted aforementioned selfies on this blog, I would have no longer have friends.


On the note of gloriously random favorite things, I decided to write a year in review post. Are you ready for this? More importantly, are you still reading this??

Jillian's Jumbled Up, In No Certain Order, Gloriously Random

Top 10 Favorite Things from 2012:

1) Nashville - Ya'll, I can't get enough of the show or the music. It's so good. It's so good I can hardly wait until January 9th when the next episode comes on. I want to be Rayna James. I want to be Juliet Barnes. I want to be on the show. Do you think they need a tutor for the kids? I'd settle for drooling over Deacon offstage. Seriously, I would.

And on the note of the kids, check out this ridiculousness by Lennon and Maisy Stella (the daughters on the show) Thanks Katie for sharing my obsession with the show and showing this to me!!:


2) Passing National Boards - still can't believe it. Thank you to EVERYONE (especially my poor momma - I LOVE YOU) who listened to me whine, complain, gripe, moan, and panic about the beast that is the boards. Thanks to my students for putting up with the videotaping, writing, and reflecting that are such a crucial part of the process. Thanks to my friend Sara Newell for being the world's best coach. Thanks to my friends that cheered me on when I got this result. Thanks to the good old state of South Carolina for the stipend I will be receiving come January 1, 2013!!!

3) Going to Raleigh to surprise my sister Katie at her KD initiation - I will never forget seeing her face when she first noticed me in the room. SO FUN. I love surprises. And Katie. Can I come back to college and be your roommate?

4) Clemson tailgates - I now ENJOY watching football (perhaps that's what the Mayans thought when they said the world was ending??) especially when accompanied by the over-eating of delicious finger foods outside on beautiful sunny South Carolina Saturdays with the best of friends. Kenneth and Meg, I'll babysit your future kiddos anytime. Just keep inviting me to these fabulous tailgates!!!

5) Seeing and singing along to LOTS of good concerts (Needtobreathe- twice, Luke Bryan, Jason Aldean, Little Big Town, Vince Gill, Zac Brown Band, Chatham County Line-twice, Will Hoge, and others I am certainly forgetting). God sends me friends that give me extra tickets and friends to go see shows with - one of my ABSOLUTE favorite things!!!

6) Learning to play the ukulele (banjo is next on my list) - Erin are you with me?!? PS: WHERE DID MOM PUT OUR HARMONICAS?!?!?!?!

7) Apple Picking with my Goofy Wonderful Family

We went late in the season....so it was a little tough to find apples at first.

I was the eternal optimist.

Erin....not so optimistic.

Katie wanted to give up too.

But we kept walking...and HOORAAAAAY! APPLES!!!!!

They were delightful. Moral of the story: go apple picking earlier in the season.

8)  The Color Me Rad Run - It was crazy. It was colorful. It was awesome.

9) Visit from Furman Roomies Lauren and Amanda this summer (minus Shannon who we missed TERRIBLY). This visit included a baby shower for THE MOST PRECIOUS BOY AARON FORD, Thaicoon at 4:00, a mandatory Furman visit, and a viewing of Magic Mike - which I watched with one eye open because I was so mortified yet simultaneously entertained). Love you girls forever.

10) This poem from one of my students: (You can cry after you read it. It's okay. I do every time.)


"The Bestest Lady"
A lady.
Just one lady
with eyes as bright as the world
beyond the world.
With a smile with the shining sun.
With hair that can never change its look.
A spirit that is raining with excitement.
Her heart is as bright as the coral reefs
of the fresh and salt waters.
Her knecklesses is beautiful
as the open sea.


And she knows she
can get anyone she wants.
A lady that says,
"You are the best you can be."
And this lady...
Is my teacher,
can change the world.




Now I know:
2012 was not too shabby. I am blessed by the people in my life.