Oh bother. Where have I been? Well, I have no good excuse... except that it's been busy! We had company in town last weekend, and we were off to Philadelphia this weekend, so it's been a busy few weeks of loved ones and traveling. 

Last weekend was our annual Saint Mary's tailgate reunion. SUCH a fun time being with my college friends, enjoying some football, and relaxing in sweats while we watched the ND game at home. On Sunday, the ladies left, and my mom and I headed to the Century Bride Expo at Century Center. This was my first bridal expo as an actual bride. I've been at them plenty of times with friends or for Jazzercise demos, so it was fun to actually be there to see if there were any services we still needed. My favorite part, though, was that RANDY FENOLI from Say Yes to the Dress and Randy to the Rescue was there and gave a presentation! Seriously, he's the best! You can tell what you see on TV is the real Randy, and he truly just wants all brides to see their beauty. I tweeted at him before his presentation, and during it, he mentioned me, and called me his BFF! Love him! 

Randy Fenoli, my new BFF

This past week was a lot of prepping to get ready for our trip to Reading and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. I still hadn't met Dan's grammy, and we wanted to make sure I did so before the wedding. We left on Wednesday after school, and stopped overnight in Ohio before making the rest of the journey. I hadn't been to Pennsylvania in years, and as soon as we got there, my ears started popping, and my Pennsylvania question accent came back. It's a Pennsylvania thing! 

While we were there, I got to meet grammy and Dan's cousin Vanessa, her husband, Dan, and their baby, Aurora. We also got to visit with Dan's family who had been out here in August, which was so nice! The Putts are a great group of people. Lots of laughter, lots of love, and lots of delicious food. We pretty much ate our faces off. Fabulous. 

Dan and me at the Yuengling Brewery

On Saturday, Dan and I took a side trip to Philadelphia. I had never been before, and there's so much awesome history there, I couldn't resist being that close. We just finished studying Deism in my Junior Honors English class, so walking in the same places as Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and Patrick Henry was pretty amazing. We got to see the Liberty Bell, The U.S. Mint, Benjamin Franklin's grave, Independence Hall, the site of the original presidents' house (underground, and recently discovered), and the home of Betsy Ross. On our way out of town, there was one more place I wanted to stop and it turned out to be SO INCREDIBLY COOL! We went to Edgar Allan Poe's home (he lived there when he wrote The Raven and The Black Cat) and got to see all the rooms. AMAZING! 

The Liberty Bell

I am a literary geek and I don't care. I freakin' loved this place. 

Two champs!

Seriously wonderful trip. Now we're gearing up for a very busy week. Between work, meetings, Jazzercise, Halloween, and errands, there will be a lot happening. Bring it on! 

Stress and tranquility

The past two weeks have been a complete whirlwind. Between school, an ENDLESS amount of grading (because, I am a genius teacher who assigned three writing assignments all around the same time), parent/teacher conferences, homecoming, Jazzercise, various meetings, shopping for bridesmaids dresses, and spending time with loved ones, I don't even know which end is up anymore. But, it's Sunday evening, I'm COMPLETELY caught up on grading, and I have the house to myself while Dan is in Tennessee (bring on the chick shows (and, consequently, crappy snacking since no one is here to watch me)). So, there's that. 

The past weeks have been so tough. Our loss at school is still devastating, but our kids are determined to honor Jake's memory and continue supporting one another. Additionally, I was pushing myself way too hard with way too many Jazzercise classes, and I feel like I'm just now starting to regain some energy (not to mention, my poor voice, which seems to leave me every other week or so lately). I haven't been sleeping as well as I normally do, and that has certainly taken its toll. I am hoping very much that we are on the upswing, as I could use a little break! 

My stress the past few weeks has translated into an unhealthy amount of stress eating. It starts innocently enough... I just want something sweet in the evenings. But, then one thing turns into twelve things, and I go to bed feeling bloated and sweeted-out. I'm working on it... but, those candy corn M&M's and other seasonal treats just keep talking to me!

At school, my students are working on their Benjamin Franklin Planner projects. They had to pick one of Franklin's twelve virtues (well, he had thirteen, but one is chastity, so that one's not an option for their school project), and I decided to do it with them. I'm on the quest to tranquility... balancing life, relaxation, and stress. It's working-ish. I do find myself feeling less stressed and making more time to relax, but I'm still having trouble with sleep and snacks. Ugh. Ugh. Ugh. 

So, this week, I'm making a really solid attempt to eat clean. I have a wedding dress to wear in seven months (SEVEN MONTHS!!!), and want to feel my best in the mean time. Hoping the tranquility will be something that starts coming easier to me. I envy those who can feel calm and at peace most of the time!