taco pizza.

I’ve been a bad blogger. A bad, bad blogger. I apologize.

Life has been so busy lately! As the semester is coming to an end, everything is hectic. I’m so ready for a break from school, a break from work, and a break from my internship! I just need some time in Franklinton to relax and do nothing with my daddy and mama and sister.

I hate to admit that I haven’t been cooking much lately. And the things that I have been cooking are pretty boring and not blog worthy. But Sunday night I whipped up a simple, yummy dinner. So...let me tell you about it!

I’ve already admitted my love for pinterest. I don’t even have a real account. I just browse and browse and browse. In fact, last week I was in my educational technology class and instead of paying attention to anything my professor I had to say, I searched through pinterest for 2 hours! Lord, help me!

Back to the point. I found this recipe that caught my attention. Taco Pizza. Simple and yummy. Here is the site where you can find the original recipe. I didn’t make any changes to the actual recipes. I just topped it differently.

Here’s what you need:

- 1 lb. of ground beef

- 1 envelope of taco seasoning

- 2 (8 oz.) cans of crescent rolls

- 1 (16 oz.) can of refried beans

- 3 cups shredded cheddar cheese (...but I used the Mexican blend because it was on sale!)

- Salsa and sour cream for topping! Yummies.

1. Preheat oven to 375.

2. Brown ground beef. Drain. Add taco seasoning.

3. Unroll crescent rolls onto a cookie sheet. The original instructions say ‘ungreased’ but I recommend greasing the cookie sheet because my crust stuck a little after baking. Use a rolling pin to flatten out the crescents and join the seams together. The dough should cover the entire cookie sheet. Bake the crust at 375 for 11 minutes.

4. Microwave the refried beans for a minute. Spread the beans over the crust when it is finished baking.

5. Spread the taco meat over the refried beans. Sprinkle the cheese over the meat. Bake the pizza for 4 minutes to melt the cheese.

6. Cut, serve, and ENJOY! We topped our pizza with salsa and sour cream and it was wonderful!

I will definitely be making this recipe again. I loved it. The boy loved it. It was a winner! Unfortunately, I didn’t take any pictures. Sorry.

Peace and blessings...and taco pizza!

Kaitlyn. 

roasted cabbage.

I'm addicted to pinterest! But...who isn't, right?! When I first discovered the site, I only browsed through the 'Food and Drink' category. Then, I discovered the 'DIY and Crafts' category. Then, I discovered the 'Wedding' category (...not that I'm getting married any time soon). And, recently, I have discovered the 'Humor' category. It's safe to say that I'm addicted to browsing through this site, and I fall in love with almost every single pin I see!

A few days ago, I stumbled upon a recipe for roasted cabbage. What?! Roasted cabbage. Hmmm...interesting! I read through the recipe and it seemed ridiculously simple, so I went to the store and bought myself a head of cabbage! I was just determined to make this little masterpiece. Mainly because I love cabbage. I'm not sure if it's a southern thing or not...but I just love it!

You can find the recipe HERE! :) And here are the pictures I took with my iPhone. The quality is terrible. Sorry.

Just plain 'ole cabbage cut into pretty little wedges.

Brushed with lots of olive oil and seasoned with lots of spices!

Fresh out of the oven. The cabbage will fall apart a little when it gets flipped but that's okay! :)

But...in keeping with the true 'Kaitlyn' style, I had to change it up a little! Unlike the recipe, I didn't use any lemon. I don't know why but lemon on cabbage just does not sound appealing to me...AT ALL! So, I just brushed my wedges of cabbage with lots of good olive oil, and I sprinkled each side liberally with salt, pepper, and cajun seasoning (for a little kick)! I also roasted them at 425 instead of 450. Why, you ask?! Because I'm weird and 450 kind of freaks me out. To me, 425 just sounds a little safer. And to make clean-up easier, I also lined my baking sheet with tin foil to eliminate some of the mess.

Before you go out and make this wonderful dish, let me tell you a little story about tonight's adventures in the kitchen. First off, I'm the type of cook that likes to be in the kitchen the whole time I'm fixing something. I think it's because I'm too impatient/paranoid/excited/lame/weird to do anything else or be anywhere else. I can't believe I'm admitting this, but I will actually sit on the kitchen floor and watch food cook through the oven door. Call me crazy...but it's just plain relaxing to me! I learned tonight that this is NOT the dish to watch constantly as it cooks. As I watched the edges get more and more brown, I would say, "Uh oh...I think it's burning. Oh my gosh...I think it's burning. Ummm, y'all..I think it's burning." At one point, my roommates were laughing and making fun of me for constantly thinking that the roasted cabbage was burning. But, no worries, they quickly shut up when I threatened to take away their eating privileges! ;) Ha. Anyway, the point is that this dish will brown but that doesn't mean it's burnt.

So...get your tail to the store, get you some cabbage, and roast it up! It is so incredibly yummy and pretty healthy too! :)

Peace and blessings...

Kaitlyn.

One random side note. I always find recipes for main dishes that I'm dying to try. But, for some reason, I have a hard time finding quick, easy, wonderful new sides to make. This recipe will be a wonderful addition to the otherwise boring line-up of sides that seems to constantly rotate through!

fall fabulousness.

Fabulousness. Is that even a word?! I’m not sure. And I don’t care. I will use it anyway.

I love to bake. But, I’ve been so busy lately that I haven’t been able to do much in the kitchen. I’m either in class, at work, doing homework, preparing lessons, or attempting to squeeze in some decent hours of sleep. Today, I had nothing urgent to do so I got to work in the kitchen! I found a wonderful recipe almost a year ago that I’ve been dying to make. It’s the perfect fall treat. And it’s fabulous. Just plain fabulous!

I love Annie’s Eats. I discovered her food blog a while back, and I’ve been following her ever since. One day, when I probably should have been doing homework, I spent lots of time looking through all of her recipes. I stumbled upon her pumpkin cream cheese muffins, and I was intrigued. But I was a little intimidated. So I waited. And I waited. And I waited. And...finally...I worked up the courage to make these muffins.

Before telling you all about these fabulous muffins, I have to tell you a little secret! A while back, my mom gave me a 40 pound (that’s right, FORTY POUND) box of sweet potatoes. Someone please tell me what a 21-year-old college girl is supposed to do with 40 pounds of sweet potatoes?! I tried to give a good amount away, and then I cooked and mashed and froze many of them. I know that I’m going to use a good deal of all this sweet potato goodness for casseroles on Thanksgiving, but I definitely won’t be making 40 pounds worth of sweet potato casserole. So, instead of making pumpkin cream cheese muffins...I made SWEET POTATO CREAM CHEESE MUFFINS. I simply replaced the pumpkin puree with sweet potato puree. And, I omitted the ground nutmeg and ground cloves too. But that’s just because I was too cheap to go buy any! ;)

I’m not going to post the step-by-step recipe but you can find it HERE! :) I’ve posted some pictures below that I took throughout the process. Please excuse the poor quality. I need to start using my nice camera instead of my iPhone!

On the left, my dry ingredients! On the right, my wet ingredients!
 

Mixing the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients!

Making the streusel topping!

 I forgot to snap a picture of the cream cheese log, but this is what it looked like after I sliced it. I put a little of the batter in the cupcake holder, then the cream cheese filling, and then some more batter to cover. The cream cheese log is supposed to chill for 2 hours in the freezer...but I was impatient! I only left mine in the freezer for about an hour, and it was just fine!

 Spooning the streusel over the tops!

Yummies. That's all I can say. Oh...and I splurged and bought the pretty cupcake holders at Food Lion. I normally buy the plain, white, cheap ones, but I've always admired these fancy ones! So...today I actually bought them! Super cute, huh?!

 

I love these muffins. They might be a breakfast food, but they are absolutely a TREAT! They are sweet, but not overly sweet. The cake/bread part is very, very moist. The streusel topping is crunchy and wonderful. The cream cheese filling is rich and smooth. These muffins are a perfect fall treat! A perfect start to a crisp fall day! Or, if you’re like me, they’re perfect as a treat after lunch or dinner too! And...if you’re really like me, they’re a sinful nighttime snack with a tall glass of milk! ;)

Honestly, I don’t know why I was ever intimidated by this recipe. It’s so, so simple and easy to make. I will definitely be making these muffins again. And y'all should make them too!

Peace and blessings...and happy eating!

Kaitlyn 

here's to hoping...

...that tomorrow will be a much, much better day!

Today was an adventure. Not a good adventure. A bad, bad adventure. I'm trying hard not to complain but today was one of the worst days I've had in a long, long time.

Here's how my day unfolded:

- At 1:00 a.m., I woke up feeling not-so-normal. My mind was racing. My stomach was in knots. I was sweating bullets. I seriously felt like I was going to be sick. I was worrying myself sick over a lesson that I had to teach today. I knew I wasn't prepared to teach. I didn't like the lesson I had written. But...with the help of some prayers and yoga breaths, I fell back to sleep. FAIL #1.

- On days that I go to my internship, I have to wake up super early. Last night, I set my alarm for 5:00 a.m. so that I would have time to press 'snooze' a few times before I actually had to get up. I really like to be able to take my time getting ready in the mornings. That's my "me" time! Typically, I have a little over an hour to get ready before I leave for my internship at 6:30 a.m. Well...not this morning! When my alarm went off, I accidentally turned the alarm OFF instead of pressing snooze. I woke up on my own at 6:30 a.m., and I felt weird. I knew something wasn't right. I looked at my phone and immediately realized that I had overslept. Y'all, I've never jumped out of bed so quickly in my life! I leaned over the bathtub and wet my hair under the faucet. I didn't use shampoo or conditioner because there was NO time for that! I threw on some wrinkly clothes. I slapped on some make-up. I threw my laptop and notebook into a bag. I headed out the door within 20 minutes of waking up. No breakfast. No lunch. But, no worries, I did brush my teeth and use deodorant! Then, I was off to school. FAIL #2.

- Today, I was supposed to be teaching a lesson to Interior Design about furniture styles. Well...I thought I was supposed to be teaching a lesson about furniture styles. Turns out, my clinical teacher taught the same content to the students yesterday. Grrr. I should have been better prepared. So, I came up with a different plan, and I used an activity that a previous intern had created. FAIL #3.

- Lately, I've been having lots of trouble with the air pressure in my tires. The light that indicates low pressure is constantly switching on and off and on and off. Today, the light came on but I wasn't that concerned about it because it typically cuts off by itself. On my way home from school, the light came on. And the light stayed on. And I kept driving because I wasn't too concerned. And I called my parents and we talked and I mentioned the light and they said, "Make sure you check that out. You don't want to get a flat tire." Then, two minutes later, I was stranded on the side of the road...with. a. flat. tire. I got out, looked around, and then got back in my car and called the boy. While I was waiting on him to come rescue me, the sun went down and it got really, really, really dark. Scary. Thankfully, one of the girls I work with stopped to make sure I was okay. That was so sweet of her. I told her Andrew was on his way and she left. So...I continued to wait for the boy. It seemed like forever. I got overwhelmed and I cried. I cried hard. And then a state trooper saw my flashing lights. He put on his blue lights, pulled behind my car, and came to my window. I was crying, and I told him that I had a flat tire and was waiting for my boyfriend to come fix it. He said, "Oh. Ok. Well that's good. Are you upset?" Seriously?! Duhhh...I'm upset! And then he left. He left me on the side of the road. Finally, the boy came to my rescue and fixed my tire without one complaint. I think I'll keep him. Flat tire, FAIL #4.

Folks, it's been a long day. A long, long day! I'm looking forward to doing NO homework, taking a long hot shower, crawling into a cozy bed, and resting my head on a soft pillow.

Peace and blessings...

Kaitlyn.      

when i stress.

I stress. I get overwhelmed easily and I stress out. I mean, I stress over everything! I stress about school. I stress about teaching. I stress about work. Basically, I STRESS!

But...I have this cure for stress. Here's how it works. I take a deep breath. I open my laptop. I go to my photo gallery. I click on the "Africa 2010" album. Then, I spend several minutes looking through pictures. This makes my heart happy. Very, very happy. And, the stress seems to melt away.

Back in the summer of 2010, I had the opportunity to travel to Kenya with my boyfriend and his family. It was the trip of a lifetime. Period. No doubt about it. We visited a missionary family and did some mission work with them and then we went on a safari. Oh...how I miss Kenya.

Here are some of my favorite pictures from the trip...

The missionary couple, Michael and Melissa, with their youngest child, Charis.

One of the sweetest girls, Joy. She was in my Bible study group.

Seriously?! How many people get to ride a camel on the beach?! So FUN!

"The Boy" and me visiting the hippos on the safari.

During our safari, we visited a Maasai village. These women sang for us. It really was amazing. 

And...of course we saw lots of giraffes! My faves. "Twigas" in Swahili.

Well...the lions and lionesses might still be a little scary, but they were beautiful too!

        

One of my most favorite pictures from the entire trip. Absolutely gorgeous sunset. How awesome is the One who created this?!

I loved every minute of being in Kenya. Well...maybe not the getting sick and having to go to the "hospital" part. ;) But it was definitely a life-changing experience. This trip really opened my eyes to the world outside of Small Town, USA.

Tonight, my stresses are melted away and my mind is filled with fun, fun memories from an awesome trip. My heart is happy, and I am thanking God for giving me such a great opportunity.

Peace and blessings...

Kaitlyn.

a picture frame makeover

I love to craft. I love turning plain, old, boring items into cute, fun, sassy little things! :) Crafting is a great way for me to burn off creative energy and release some stress. Recently, I saw the cutest craft idea on pinterest, and I was so excited to try it! Basically, you turn an old (...or a cheap new) frame into a little message board where you can clip a "to-do" list, a weekly menu, a picture, or whatever floats your boat. This craft is SO easy and the final product is fabulous!

I made this craft last night for my roommate, Courtney. She's turning 22 this week! Whew...that girl is getting old.

Here's what you do...

1. Start off with a cheap, old or new picture frame. You will also need a pretty piece of scrapbook paper, some craft paint, a hot glue gun, and a small little clip.

2. Take apart the picture frame. The frame I used had a border, so that was a plus! The actual frame itself was black, and I painted it white. The actual border was white, and I painted it pink. I used about 3 coats of paint on the frame!

3. Cut a piece of scrapbook paper so that it will fit in the picture frame. I thought this orange and white print looked so cute with the pink! :) Plus, it matches Courtney's room.

4. Now, it's time to put the frame together. This is a little confusing because the glass does not go on top. You will want to insert the border, then the scrapbook paper, then the glass, and finally the backing. Secure all of this into the frame.

5. Finally, use hot glue to secure the clip to the top area of the scrapbook paper.

Here is the finished product! I'm absolutely in love with it. In fact, I almost thought about keeping it for myself. Ha! :) But...I did give it to Courtney! And, I even gave it to her early because I wanted to blog about it so badly! Happy birthday girl!

Peace and blessings...and happy crafting!

Kaitlyn

SUYL - Linking Up!

Today, I'm linking up with Kelly's Korner Blog. I'm very new to the blogging world, so I'm just trying to figure out where I fit in! :) I'm in my 20s and I'm a college senior at East Carolina! I love to cook. I love to craft. I'm addicted to reality tv, diet mountain dew, chocolate, and all things pink! I have a wonderful, wonderful family, an amazing boyfriend, and some great friends that have been with me since kindergarten. Welcome to my blog! Stay tuned for some great recipes, cute crafts, and funny stories about my experience as a teacher-in-training!

Me and my older sister, Whitney, at a wedding!

My boyfriend, the mascot, and me at the Cowboys' stadium this past summer!

One of my best friends, Megan, and me!

Peace and blessings...

Kaitlyn

not for the faint of heart.

Last night, I made a quiche for dinner. The recipe seemed pretty straight forward and easy, and I was excited to try it because I had never made a quiche before. I found the recipe on The Pioneer Woman's Tasty Kitchen blog a few weeks ago. It stood out to me for some odd reason, and I thought hmmm...I need to make that! Click here for the recipe. The only thing I changed about the recipe is the type of shredded cheese. The boy doesn't like swiss, so I opted for mozarella. He's spoiled. ;)

Here is my quiche before it went into the oven! Unfortunately, it got gobbled up before I had a chance to get a picture of the finished product! Oops.

Let me tell you about this quiche. It's rich. It's cheesy. It's creamy. It's dense. And it's not for the faint of heart. This quiche contains heavy cream, cream cheese, mozarella cheese, and parmesan cheese. This quiche means business! I kind of liked it...but I definitely didn't love it. I'm not really into quiche anyway, and this one was just a little much for me. Honestly, I think the little bits of cream cheese put it over the top. But, you should try it! Unlike me, you might LOVE it! The boy liked it. He even took some home for leftovers. The recipe is very, very easy. And the finished product is beautiful. I really wish that I liked the finished product more because I enjoyed the actual process of making the quiche. But, maybe I'm crazy for even thinking that I might've loved this dish. I hate pie crust. I hate spinach. I'm not that crazy about "egg-y" things. Oh well, try and try again.

Peace and blessings...

Kaitlyn   

my mama.

Many, many, many, many, many, many (ha!) years ago on this day, a sweet little bundle of joy was brought into the world. The proud parents named their new baby Dorothy Lou and decided to call her “Dottie” for short! :) This little Dottie grew and grew and grew, and eventually she became a wife and a mother...my mother! So, today I’m wishing my mama a very happy, happy birthday! I seriously don’t know where I would be without her. My mom is one of the most fun and caring people I have ever known. And, she is loved by EVERYONE! I thank God for giving me such a great mama. HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM! I love you.



Peace and blessings...

Kaitlyn

playing with puppets.

Today, I woke up at the crack of dawn, got all dressed and ready, and headed off to SouthWest Edgecombe for another day as Miss Averette. I was especially excited for today because I was scheduled to teach! As a part of my internship requirements for ECU, I have to teach a specific amount of lessons. I was planning to teach a mini-lesson during 1^st period to my Teen Living class. Here’s the problem. Mini-lessons are supposed to last about 20 minutes. So far, I have attempted 2 mini-lessons. And, you know what happened?! There was nothing “MINI” about them! Both times, I taught the entire class period when I was only supposed to teach for 20 minutes. Well...guess what happened today with my mini-lesson?! I didn’t teach the whole class period. I taught the whole THREE class periods! Haha.

Anyway, my lesson was on interpersonal development. I created a cute lesson plan with puppets. First, I used a brown paper lunch bag, scrapbook paper, and markers to create a puppet to model for the students. This puppet was an abstract version of me. It was made to reflect who I am physically, emotionally, and socially. Here’s my puppet!

The students also made puppets of themselves. They loved doing this. It was like they were back in elementary school! :) Here are a few of the puppets made by the students. I can’t wait to hang all of the puppets around the classroom. The students really got into it and they were so creative!

The adventure of the day. Obviously, I can’t leave SouthWest without some exciting story to tell. So...today, I was only planning on teaching this lesson to 1^st period, and I only bought 50 brown paper bags. Well, the 50 ended up being enough for 2 class periods but I needed more so the last class could make puppets too. During my lunch break, I ran to the Family Dollar in search of more brown paper bags. They didn’t have any! The toothless cashier said, “Honey, the only place in Pinetops that carries brown paper bags is the Piggly Wiggly down the road.” Oh no! This girl didn’t have time for a trip to the Piggly Wiggly. I was on a mission! I flew out the door of the Family Dollar and marched my butt right next door to the Hardee’s. I put on my best smile and sweet southern accent, and I asked the cashier, “Excuse me, but I’m having a bit of a problem. I really need some brown paper bags. Can you pleeease help me out?!” One minute later, I walked out of the Hardee’s with 40 brown paper bags and the best thing is that they were free!

That’s been my day so far. Can’t complain. 

And, as lame as this might be, here is my outfit for today. I love getting all dressed up in my teacher clothes. It makes me feel grown.

Peace and blessings...

Kaitlyn.

a "thanksgiving" sandwich.

Tonight, I had class until 7:30pm. And, in case you don't know, 7:30 is way past my supper time so when I'm out of class, I'm definitely ready to eat! Before I could get back to my apartment to have dinner, I had to go fill up my car with gas. I also had to stop by Food Lion and pick up some brown paper bags for the lesson I'm teaching tomorrow (...more on that later)! I went into Food Lion to buy ONE thing and by the time I got to the check-out counter, I had accumulated over $30 worth of stuff. Lord, help me!

Anyway, I didn't really have any idea what I wanted for supper. But...while I was strolling the aisles of Food Lion, something caught my eye! Something I love dearly. Something that I typically only eat once a year. It comes in a can. It's deep red. It's jelly. It's cranberry. Anybody guessed it yet?! That's right, CRANBERRY SAUCE! And, when I saw this wonderful canned creation, a lightbulb went off in my head! Y'all aren't going to believe this!

For dinner tonight, I had the best. sandwich. ever. It was wonderful! Toasty bread, melted cheese, warm stuffing, crisp romaine, cold cranberry sauce, and a touch of mayonnaise. Y'all, I think I tasted a little piece of heaven! Everyone has to make this sandwich ASAP. I'm not even kidding one bit. In fact, I loved it so much, I'm having it again for lunch tomorrow. And the next day. And the next day. Ok, well now I'm getting a bit carried away.

   
Here's the Cast of Characters:
- 2 slices of Pepperidge Farm Oatmeal bread...or whatever bread suits you
- 1 slice of Muenster cheese...or whatever cheese suits you
- A bit of Duke's mayonnaise...or whatever mayo suits you (...but if you eat Miracle Whip, we can't be friends! haha.)
- A bit of prepared Stove Top Turkey stuffing...or whatever brand suits you
- A bit of Ocean Spray cranberry sauce...or whatever cranberry sauce suits you
- A few slices of DeliFresh sliced turkey breast...or whatever turkey suits you
- A crisp leaf of romaine lettuce

(please excuse the terrible iPhone pictures!)

After toasting your bread, spread a little mayo on one slice. On top of the mayo, spread a little (or, if you're like me, a lot) of cranberry sauce on top of the mayo. Place the sliced turkey on top of the cranberry sauce, and place the romaine on top of the turkey. On the other slice of bread, place the slice of cheese. Spread some warm stuffing on top of the cheese. Put as much or as little as you like. Put the sandwich together, slice, and enjoy! And, I didn't do this, but dip the sandwich in some ready-made gravy if you're feeling extra fiesty! :)

I'm absolutely in love with this sandwich. I don't care how many calories, how much sodium, or how many grams of fat are in this little masterpiece. It was wonderful. And it was the perfect reminder that Thanksgiving is right around the corner!

Peace and blessings...

Kaitlyn

super easy stromboli.

Last Friday, I woke up and drove to work in Pinetops (...40 minutes). I left work and drove home to Franklinton for an appointment (...1 hour 20 minutes). And then, I turned around and drove right back to Greenville (...1 hour 30 minutes). By the time I got back to my apartment, I was exhausted. That's just too much driving in one day for me. When I got back to Greenville, it was dinner time. I seriously did not feel like slaving away in the kitchen and I thought about just going out and picking up some fast food. But, I resisted the urge and I decided to whip up something at home.

A few weeks ago, I found a recipe on Pinterest (ahhh, love that site!) for stromboli. The recipe looked super easy and yummy too! I was really interested to try the recipe because I had never made stromboli before, and I always like to cook new things. In fact, I rarely ever "repeat" meals! So, I bought all the ingredients (except for one I couldn't find) and then LOST the recipe! Ughhh. Frustrating, right?! The ingredients I bought sat in my fridge untouched for a while...until I came up with this great idea!

Here's my recipe for some cute little strombolis that are very, very yummy and incredibly easy to make! I wish I had taken some pictures but I didn't! Sorry!

Ingredients
Can of crescent rolls (I used Food Lion brand)
Little bit of all-purpose flour for dusting
8 slices of hard salami (I used Oscar Meyer)
4 slices of provolone cheese (I used Food Lion brand)
32 slices of pepperoni (I used Hormel)
1 cup of shredded mozarella (I used Food Lion brand)
Some jarred marinara sauce...or whatever tickles your fancy!

1. Preheat the oven to 350. I used a Pampered Chef baking stone to bake these strombolis so I went ahead and popped that in the oven too!
2. Roll out the crescent rolls. Separate the dough into 4 rectangles. Sprinkle a little flour on your work surface and use a rolling pin to get rid of the seams and flatten the dough a bit.
3. For each rectangle of dough, lay 2 slices of salami, 1 slice of provolone cheese, 8 slices of pepperoni, and a little bit of mozarella on top.
4. Starting at one end, roll the strombolis. You want to make sure you roll them tightly.
5. Place the strombolis seam side down on the baking stone.
6. Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes.
7. Serve with a side of warm marinara sauce and ENJOY!

Note: The strombolis are pretty small, so 4 strombolis wouldn't necessarily feed 4 people. When I made these, I ate one, my roommate ate one, and the boy ate two! :) We gobbled them up!

How easy does this recipe sound?! Please make these and let me know what you think!

Peace and blessings...

Kaitlyn    

teacher in training.

Teacher in training. Yep, that's what I like to call it! It just sounds way more fun than plain 'ole INTERN. I'm a senior at ECU majoring in Family and Consumer Sciences Education. That's a mouthful, huh?! Family. And. Consumer. Sciences. Education. In other words, I want to be a Home Economics teacher...well, the modern version anyway! I want to teach crazy high school students about life! You know...cooking, parenting, sewing, design, financial management, relationship skills, etc. I will stop there but the list goes on and on and on and on! Haha.

I have a feeling that many of my posts for the next six months will be about my experience as a teacher in training. My time as "Miss Averette" at SouthWest Edgecombe High School is just so much fun! I mean...what's more fun than trying to teach a bunch of sassy girls and rowdy boys about Interior Design?! Haha. But really, teaching has been an absolute blast so far. I never, ever expected that I would be so in love with teaching. I know that there will be some rough days. I know that a time will come when I will question my decision to become a teacher. I know that a time will come when I want to abandon my classroom and run away to a tropical paradise. I know that a time will come when I receive a paycheck and think, "Really?! Where's the rest?!" But, right now, I'm content. I'm happy. I'm satisfied. I'm thankful for this experience.

So, here's your warning. If you keep reading, there will be many, many more stories about my experience as a teacher in training! I can promise you that there will be some laughs, tears, excitement, and frustration. I'm so interested to see where this experience will take me. A diploma. A degree. A teaching certificate. A job?! I guess I'll just have to be patient and work my fingers to the bone until May 2012!

Peace and blessings.

Kaitlyn.

starting over.

Last year, I started a blog. I blogged four times. Then, I became "busy" and blogging became the last item on my to-do list. I want to blog. I really, really want to blog. So, I'm giving it a second chance. I want to share my journey through my senior (that's right, SENIOR) year of college at East Carolina! Here's my life. My life as a student. My life as a teacher in training. My life as a daughter, sister, and girlfriend. My life as as I cook and craft. And, most importantly, my life as it continues to be full of happiness, laughter, and love. Here's to blogging!

Peace and blessings...

Kaitlyn.