13 in '13.... a linky party

I couldn't miss the opportunity to link up, I love a good linky!!

Here are the "rules." But sounds like maybe they are a pirate code~ more like guidelines.... ARrr. Okay, that was lame, but it can be any 13 memories, or you can follow the guidelines. Read. Link. Enjoy.

You can use these prompts if you'd like, or just list your top 13 best memories {like me}! 

13. Favorite article of clothing:

12. Favorite movie you watched:

11. Favorite TV series:

10. Favorite restaurant:

9. Favorite new thing you tried:

8. Favorite gift you got:

7. Favorite thing you pinned:

6. Favorite blog post:

5. Best accomplishment:

4. Favorite picture:

3. Favorite memory:

2. Goal for 2014:

1. One Little Word:

How to link up:

Create a blog post sharing your favorite 13 things in 2013. Add the button to your post and link it to this blog post. Then link up below, making sure to link directly to your post, not just your blog.

I linked up through Miss Kindergarten.  There are several sites to link through, it's an effort of three friends bloggers friends.... and they set it up together! 

Thirteen: favorite article of clothing.  Hmmmm.... I just got a new green sweater that goes with my blacks and dark colors that I can wear to school. It's very "me".... comfy/casual and it still says professional.  I only have one sorta crappy photo, but here goes. 

Twelve: Favorite movie you watched. The Heat. I say that with a chuckle as my head is hung low. Not a family friendly flick... for sure, but I did laugh, I really enjoyed the irreverent pairing of Sandra Bullock with Melissa McCarthy.

Eleven. Favorite TV series. Parenthood. They just keep keepin' it real. I cry more than I laugh, but I feel like I KNOW these people. 

Ten. Favorite Restaurant. Hard to say. Just before we moved, I found a really good mexican restaurant in Guymon, and I can't remember the name anymore, but since we've been home again, hmmmm.... probably Tres Amigos. Judging by the frequency of our visits, that would be the favorite. One place I love, that I haven't been to since we've been home, is Martinelli's Little Italy.  Love that place. It doesn't matter what you order, it is tasty. They have great steaks. But it's usually served up with a good dose of friendship, so the food is then secondary. 

Nine. Favorite New Thing you tried. HA! My first thought was that the answer to this post is a year off.... Because last year (12-13) I uprooted my children and my pets and we moved to the OK panhandle, four and half hours away from everyone and everything that we know! I did this just because I wanted to teach more than I wanted those familiar comforts around me! So.... although I learned so much and there are many favorites hidden there: discovering the great people in the town we lived in, teaching in a diverse classroom, learning to stand on my own without my friends and family holding my hand.... maybe the other "new thing" was moving back home, in faith, even though I did not have a job secured. And I tried another something new... working with small groups as a reading tutor this year. It was a huge shift in mindset. And I struggled. But now I have found a groove. Now... now, I love it. And something new also.... I am spreading my wings just a little. I started the year off following plans written by someone else, and am now writing plans for several groups on my own, delving into project-based learning, digging deeper in Bloom's taxonomy and asking those deeper questions, and teaching students how to THINK, how to research, how to peel apart the information they discover and get to the heart of the issue. These are the things we are encouraged to do in college, the incredible ways of teaching I was exposed to as an intern and student teacher, and I am gathering my courage and putting them into practice. Yay!! 

home again, home again....

Eight. Favorite Gift I got. World Peace. Okay... not quite. The holidays are a very stressful time for me. There are several reasons for this. One is that I have what I call: foot-in-mouth-disease. I always open my big mouth and say the wrong thing, or maybe not the wrong thing, but I say it in a way that hurts someone and it doesn't come out the way I intended at all.  So there's that. And then there is the dreaded word: expectations. I have these crazy-perfect-high-unachievable expectations that I can't meet and no one else can either. So I am always in search of the perfect gift, the best treats, the most meaningful words in a card, etc. Yuck. It's exhausting. This year, I got sick. I had to just be okay with the fact that all the treats didn't get made and all the gifts didn't get completed. And I had the most harmonious, joyous and peaceful family Christmas I have had in years. That was the best gift ever. Enjoying my family. 

Seven. Favorite thing I pinned. Oh boy. Somewhere along the way between discovering this crazy wonderful world of blogging and the goodies on TpT, pinning fell by the wayside. I will have to see what I have pinned in not too distant history that might qualify. 

From my quotes and sayings board. Lots of wisdom on that board. :)

Six. Favorite Blog Post. Well, I don't have a favorite. But I have a lot of favorites. I went back and read  a bunch. And this one just made me smile a lot. There is a lot of love wrapped up in this little Five for Friday post. So I will share it again. It's from May, the end of school and all that anticipation of moving back home is hidden there somewhere. 

Five. Best Accomplishment. Well, that is open for interpretation as well. I completed my first year of teaching and then did the fraidy-cat brave thing and decided to leave that job and move back to my community where I love the town, the schools, and am close to my family. I didn't accomplish that by myself. I had help. My family and friends poured their hearts and souls into getting me home. But finishing my first year of teaching with grace and enthusiasm might be my biggest accomplishment and moving back home might be a big accomplishment as well. 

We had a field day at the end of the year and this last photo is my own little Third grader who became a better reader in Oklahoma.  There may be a lot of things she didn't like about the year, but her Momma is so happy she got better at reading. And so my accomplishment.... the photos are of wrapping up that first year of teaching. Because as most of you remember, that first year is something else! 

Four. Favorite picture.

This could be my fave. My girls, ready for the Christmas season!
Happy 2013 holidays, and ready to take on 2014! 

Three. Favorite Memory. yeah. I don't have a favorite. I am not going to try to drum one up. Um... a GOOD memory.  The going-away dinner that my teaching partner gave us before we left Guymon. I didn't even take one photo. Wow. I am slipping. 

Two. Goal for 2014. Wow. I have several. And I am going to list two. They are part of one goal and they are polar opposites. All wrapped up together. Ultimate goal: be content with whatever comes my way. Immediate goal: get a J.O.B. !!! Love teaching reading, but I would love it even more if I could actually pay my bills. Being a single mom is hard. And I am not complaining. I made the choices that led to being a single mom.  I love my children. But I went back to school and busted my butt to get that piece of paper that says that I am qualified to teach your children and both the state of Kansas and the state of Oklahoma say that I am qualified and issued me a license. So my goal is to get that salaried position that teachers have, however small that salary may be, it is better than an hourly job that doesn't pay when there's no school. I have a better chance of this when I remember who I am what my God has done for me. I might be "poor" and yet, I have SO MUCH! My goal is to practice contentment every day in 2014. 

I just love this picture. It shows primary/early primary students engaged on the carpet
 and the teacher is teaching. Miss this part.

One. One little word. I could say contentment, right? But I am going to QUIET.  The bible says, "be still and know  that I am God." Quieting my mind and listening has a peaceful quality. And I need that. This year's word is QUIET. That great and vast quiet that envelopes you as snow falls softly all around muffling the outside world and magnifying the stillness.  That level of quiet.