First Things First ~ Home Stuff

I've been wicked busy, so I haven't been able to participate in this link-up (or any link-up for that matter) in a while! I like it though, so I'm taking the time to write and link-up with Halie @Penguins, Pasta, & Polka Dots! This is such a cute link-up...who doesn't love recalling old memories?

This week is all about Home, Sweet, Home....

1. First apartment or house on your own (away from you parents!)
2. First room you decorated or would like to decorate
3. First thing you bought for it, or would like to buy

1. First apartment or house on your own (away from you parents!)
   ~My first apartment away from my parents was the summer after I graduated college in 2008. Sigh...what a fun summer. I graduated college, received a teaching offer in Kindergarten, and moved out of my parent's house! I went to school in the same town that we lived in, so I got to live at home instead of the dorms all through college. I lived in Grey Eagle apartments on Old Spartanburg Road in Greenville, South Carolina. Oh the memories that were in that place! I lived there from July 2008 to August 2011. It was great...I was less than 10 minutes from work and it was a straight shot right down E.North Street. I was also less than 10 minutes to my gym, the mall, Target, and other important places in Gvegas. I found some pictures of my apartment complex...here it is! I made sure to include my favorite place...the pool!

 2. First room you decorated or would like to decorate.
   ~I decorated my whole 2 bedroom apartment when I was living there, but that's when I was single. When Brad and I started "seriously" dating, we started decorating our house. The first thing we did was paint the living room wall an accent color. :) That was such a fun day because it was our first "our home" project. The first room I decorated though was the guest bathroom. I guess we I started with that one because it was smaller, in the front of the house, and people would see it more often. We had found some wall art that we both liked and were in agreement on the colors. I had my color scheme, so it was pretty easy from there! I'm a bargain shopper, and I found some great stuff for the guest bathroom at places like TJMaxx, Ross, and Marshalls. It turned out pretty well...at least I think so!

Here's a picture of us painting from the tab "Our Story", but I don't have any pictures of the front bathroom?!? Oh well, maybe I can upload some later!

3. First thing you bought for it, or would like to buy.
   ~The first big thing that we bought as a couple was our bedroom set. I. Love. It. So. Much!! We looked around for a while at bedroom sets in February 2011. We had gotten engaged in December and it was time to get rid of Brad's old bachelor pad bedroom set and mine. We finally found the perfect bedroom set at Ashley Furniture in Greenville. I adore this set and am so glad that we got it!
(This picture came from the Ashley Furniture website :) )

Welp, that's it!

Protein, Big Bang, and Kiddos ~ First Things First

Tuesday...you are some much more enjoyable now that I don't have class on Monday nights! Also, Tuesdays are now fun because of this get-to-know me post! This cute little link-up comes from Halie@Penguins, Pasta, and Polka Dots

So this week on First Things First:

• First thing I reach for in the fridge 
• First car accident or traffic violation
•  First BIG accomplishment I'm proud of

Now let's see if I can get some of these answered...

First thing I reach for in the fridge:

~This is a little hard to answer, mostly because you reach for something different almost every time you go into the fridge AND it depends on what time of day it is. So, my answer - protein. At breakfast, I reach for the eggs - protein. At lunch, I reach for the chicken/tuna/turkey meat - protein. At dinner, I reach for the chicken/salmon - protein. So I guess that's it...protein - an important part of a healthy diet!!

Food Prep Sunday...lots of Protein!!

 

First car accident of traffic violation:

~It was a speeding ticket for me. I know, I know...terrible. I was driving my dad's old '83 Corolla  , stick shift and all. I had that old lady going 55 in a 45 on my way to a movie that I was going to be late for. I was a cute little thing in high school and that mean old cop STILL gave me a ticket. Ugh...oh well. I learned pretty well after that! Pretty well...

First BIG accomplishment I'm proud of:

~My first BIG accomplishment that I'm proud of is my career. I love teaching and I love watching/helping my students succeed. My previous school in Greenville, SC - ENSA- was 90% of my life. I loved that school and I loved those kids with all my heart. I miss them and the school so much sometimes it hurts. My career was going somewhere. I was collaborating with a local university to get iPads into Early Childhood classrooms. I had over 15 practicum students each semester working on ground-breaking techniques with the iPads. I mean, we were doing things in my classroom with iPads that NO ONE else in the country was doing. How do I know that? The professor I was collaborating with had the opportunity to present what we were doing at the Early Childhood Conference!! Researchers/Teachers/Educators were amazed at what we were doing. How cool is that?? Right before we moved, I also was asked to present and speak at the UTC (Upstate Technology Conference)in Greenville over the summer. There were over 3,000 attendees. Um hi, I was 26 at the time. I would call that a major accomplishment and I am very proud of it. I am still looking forward to doing big things here in Iowa with my career...in the future!

We do big things in Mrs. Bishop's room!

The Gym, Sushi, and Cricket ~ First Things First

Happy Tuesday! Personally, Tuesday has not traditionally been an easy day for me. I am, somehow, always exhausted after Mondays! Uuummm, maybe it's because I work 8-5 pm and then run right over to my class, from 5-10:30 pm! Yikes...that makes for a long day! The again, Tuesday nights are our Swing Dance Class, which I love!!

So, I found this link-up this morning and thought it was a cute idea. Just another "get to know me" post. Somehow, I think this one could have a few laughs thrown in there...

Today's Topics:

• First things I do at the gym
• First date with my husband
• My first email address

Here we go!

First Thing I do at the Gym:
~Oh the gym. If you know me, you know I'm addicted to the gym. I don't think that's a bad thing at all! The first thing I do at the gym, normally, is warm up. When Brad and I are lifting weights, we try to warm up our bodies on the treadmill or elliptical for at least 10 minutes. This gets your blood flowing and your body moving around. Then we usually warm up the muscle group we are working on by stretching it out. This habit is something that's really important if you don't want to injure yourself!!

First Date with my Husband:
~My husband and I had *the best first date* of all of both of our dating histories. My husband and I met at the gym on a Monday night in early December 2010. We talked after working out every single night that week. On Friday, he finally asked me out on a dinner date. He picked me up at my house Saturday night and we drove to gorgeous downtown Greenville, South Carolina (where we previously lived). We started out at Tsunami, a sushi restaurant. We started with edemame, had a glass of wine, and lots of yummy sushi. After that, we were having such a good time, Brad took me to a snazzy wine bar down the street called, Stellar. He ordered us a bottle of wine and we sat there until 12:00 am talking. It was amazing how well the conversation went that night. Everything we talked about, we had something in common. We thought the same way, had the same morals/ideals, had the same religious beliefs, and had the same type of upbringing. Love at first date! Brad was such a gentleman. He dropped my off with a hug (knowing I would not want to be kissed on a first date, very intuitive of him...I'm pretty strict/prudish when it comes to dating) and said he would call me the next day. Which he did. The rest is history. We've been together ever since!

My First E-mail Address:
~Now this is slightly funny/embarrassing. I got my first e-mail address when I was in Middle school. My family had gotten a computer when I was in elementary, but I didn't get an e-mail address until later. Somewhere between 7th and 8th grade, my friends nicknamed me "cricket." I seriously have no idea where that even came from, but it stuck all the way through high school! So, my first e-mail address was,
cricket0831@aol.com. Ha! The things we do in Middle school...

Happy Tuesday!