Graceland, Baby!

Before I get to Graceland, let's take a good look at my pretty Pre-K classroom. I went to school yesterday for an optional work day so that I can clean this atrocious closet and throw things away and make it my own! Yesssss! I was ready and anxious for this day since there was a lot of work to be done.

Here is a before picture of my closet. It was in complete disarray. There was even a bundle of sticks on the ground. What!? It was just gross. Needed some intense cleaning:

Another before picture:
There is still a lot of work to be done, but at least I can walk in the closet now! One day, I'm going to COMPLETELY organize all of the books into their appropriate categories and throw even more stuff away! I didn't have it in me to go through those files in the shelves and all of the old papers that we don't need anymore. Apparently the teacher before me was EXCELLENT, but maybe a little messy and a bit of a pack rat. Not this white girl! I love throwing things away and cleaning up.

So here is the after picture:
One of the things that I love about this school is that they provide everything. I know in other schools, the teacher has to provide all the art supplies. The teacher has to provide the paper and pencils. The teacher has to supply the science stuff and extra blocks if wanted and so on and so forth. At A Children's Place, the school provides EVERYTHING! They get rid of broken crayons and dried out markers. They give away books that are ripped up and gross. They always have new and clean books readily available for children and teachers. If I decide to do a unit on the study of farm animals, the school will provide all of the appropriate books and toys and study materials and even send us on a field trip to see farm animals. This school is just outstanding! Like I've said before. If you live in the Memphis area and you have children 4 years old and younger, send them to A Children's Place! It is outstanding!!!

My classroom:
Carpet/reading/quiet/comfy area:
Block/Dollhouse area:
Housekeeping:
I love my school. I'm thrilled for the year to start back up next week. And I'm ready to finally be a teacher with my OWN classroom and my OWN kids! More stories to come, I'm sure :)

Graceland, Baby!!!

This week, my parents were in town for Christmas with me and Jamie. They got here Sunday night and left yesterday afternoon. We had a great time together and I'm so glad they finally got to see my humble abode and where we do life! On Sunday, we went to Swanky's for dinner and opened Christmas presents (got some fabulous stuff, by the way). On Monday, we went to Graceland, Toms BBQ, and Texas de Brazil (fat fest 2010!!!). On Tuesday, we went downtown and walked around Beale Street, visited Bellevue and had a bunch of people over for a dinner party. Such a fun week!

Graceland....oh where do I begin? First of all, there are some crazies out there who are just obsessed with Elvis and probably think he's still alive and well, walking this earth somewhere! Second of all, that house is crazy!!! It was a medium size house in the ghetto of Memphis with horses and cars and planes and awards and a sanctuary and a pool and so much more! Oh the style back in the 70's was just...well...hideocious to put it bluntly. What terrible decorative style that decade portrayed! Not that I'm good at decorating, because I'm not, but shag carpet on the floors, walls and ceilings...yipes! Well, I captured just a few pics of his home...here they are:

Mom, dad and I ready for the tour with our earphones on:
The Presley home:
The living room:
The dining room:
The basement:
Some of his ooooglay outfits (Sorry Elvis...these were poor fashion choices):
The pool:
Uhhh, I forget which room this one. But I think he sang in this room they day he died...maybe? I don't remember. This room was significant somehow:
Only a few of the awards displayed in his trophy room (which was the size of a house!):
The Presley sanctuary:
Jamie was STOKED to be at Graceland again. Honestly folks, once you've gone once....you don't need to go back.:
Elvis had a ton of really neat and beautiful cars and I wanted this pretty red one:
This plane was called the Lisa Marie and it was awesome! I loved walking around in the plane and seeing the neat rooms and decor in there. It was pretty funny!:

So there ya go. That is Graceland in a blogshell. (Get it? Instead of a nutshell...blogshell...nevermind).

I'm out of school today, tomorrow and Monday! Woo hoo! But I'll be ready to go back on Tuesday to see my babies! Little cutie pies! Hope you all have a lovely Thursday! I love you dearly and God bless ya!