The Liebster Award

Brie from Breezy Special Ed and Hailey from The Autism Tank both nominated me for the Liebster award! Thanks girls, and sorry it's taken me so long to accept! :)

Here are the rules:
1. Post 11 random things about yourself.
2. Answer the questions that the nominator set for you.
3. Create 11 questions for the people you nominate.
4. Choose blogs with fewer than 200 followers to nominate and link them in your post.
5. You cannot “tag back” the other blog, but leave a comment on this post with the URL of your Liebster post so I can learn more about you & see who you nominate.

11 Random Things about myself 
1. I am originally from Cleveland, Ohio

2. I just got 3 different personalized bags from Thirty-One and I am obsessed!

3. I love cream cheese jalapeno poppers, vanilla bean ice cream, and tacos

4. Martha Stewart is my organizational, entertaining, cooking, and decorating idol

5. I love Big Bang Theory-- Sheldon and Amy crack me up!

6. I hate snow.

7. I love reading.

8. I LOVE pink!!

9. Getting my hair cut is my favorite "me" activity. 

10. Taking a hot bubble bath while reading Real Simple or my Kindle is a close second.

11. I desperately want to go on an all inclusive tropical vacation this summer
11 Questions: 
1. What made you start a blog? My friend Megan at Mrs. Wheeler's First Grade did a presentation about her awesome blog last year at the school we both taught at. I knew nothing about blogging but loved it as soon as I started!
2. What’s your favorite thing to do on the weekends? Relax and spend time with my boyfriend and friends. 
3. Name one person you admire and why. My mom because she rocks and she's my best friend
4. Do you like sports? If so, what’s your favorite team? I like watching sports! Football is my favorite. Go Browns!
5. Why did you choose to be a teacher? While in college I started doing in-home ABA therapy with two little boys with autism and I fell in love with working with kids with autism. Then I worked at a summer camp for kids with multiple disabilities and from that point on I knew I wanted a self-contained special ed classroom. 
6. If you won the lottery, what is the first thing you would do with your money? Buy a house and then fly to Europe. 
7. What is your most memorable moment so far in your life? Good question. 
8. What (DID) you want the most for Christmas? a nice relaxing break!
9. Do you like to shop? Where’s your favorite place? not really but I love Target and Pier 1
10. What are three blogs you constantly read? I'm cheating on this one.... I couldn't pick just 3!!! say The Autism Helper, Sped-ventures, Keeping it True in K-1-2, Simply Kinder, We are ALL Special!
11. What are your future goals? Professionally - eventually get an ABA or similar masters degree. Personally - eventually get married and start a family

(Feel free to answer the same questions I answered!)

Blogs I am nominating:

Ashley- Miss Ashley's Resource Room

Karlie- We Are ALL Special!

Jeannie- Class Full of Special Kinders

Cortney- Classroom in the Corner

Kim- Mrs. H's Resource Room

The Versatile Blogger Award!

I want to give a special THANK YOU to Karlie over at We are ALL Special! for my newest blogging award! Karlie is a fellow SpEd with a fabulous blog so I highly recommend everyone heads over to check it out!

Here are the seven rules to follow when receiving this award:

1. Thank the blogger who nominated you. 
2. Include a link to their blog.  
3. Include the award image in your post.  
4. Give 7 random facts about yourself.  
5. Nominate 15 other bloggers for the award.  
6. When nominating, include a link to their blog.  
7. Let other bloggers know they've been nominated.  

  
Here are the 7 random facts about me...

1. I love to cook! However, I really only cook during the summer because I am never home during the school year. 
2. This is the first summer I have taken "off" since I was 15 and I am going crazy! I don't know what to do with myself!
3. I am almost always the last person to leave school... I am a perfectionist (not a workaholic contrary to what some may believe!) and want everything to be perfect for my kiddos because I think it is what they deserve!
4. I live with my amazing boyfriend, Andy. He is very understanding of #1-3 and I am lucky for that!
5. I love to travel. Next week I will be in Philly, NYC, Cape Cod and Boston. Then at the end of July I will be spending a week at the beach in Hilton Head, SC... SO EXCITED!
6. I love to read. However, again this only happens during the summer :(. My favorite author or SpEd related stories is Torey Hayden, for romance I like Nicholas Sparks, and for a page-turner I go to Jodi Picoult. 
7. During the school year I do try to make time to read my two favorite magazines: Real Simple and Everyday Food (I am sort of a Martha Stewart nut!)

Since I recently nominated 15 fellow bloggers for the One Lovely Blog award I wanted to find a fresh bunch for this award. There are so many awesome blogs out there! I set out to my extensive Pinterest boards to find some "new" (to me) blogs!

Something to Chirp About

Luckeyfrog's Lilypad

Just Another Day in First Grade

A First Grade Teacher's Passions and Obsessions

" 

One Lovely Blog Award

I was super excited this afternoon when I logged on and saw that Lacey over at Challenges Make Life Interesting gave me my first blog award!

Thanks, Lacey! I am thrilled to have new followers and I am glad to see others appreciate what I have to share about my classroom and teaching experiences.

Now this award has some rules:

1.  Follow the person who gave you the award.

2.  Link back to the person who gave you the award.

3.  Pass the award on to 15 new bloggers.

Since I am new to the blogging world I tried to find some newbies out there and also share some of my favorite blogs I have found along the way. Most of them are teaching blogs and some are blogs from friends that I love to read. Here is my list:

Extra Special Teaching

Carried Away in Kindergarten

Mrs. Wheeler's First Grade Tidbits

Life in Special Education

Keeping it True in K-1-2

Love 4 Special Ed

How Long is this Hall?

Ms. Rachel's Room

Class Full of "Special" Kinders

Mrs. Mayas' Kindergarten

Celebrations by Shari

Classroom in the Corner

ClevelandRage

Laughter Could Be the Missing Piece

GrowCookPreserve

I encourage all of my readers to check these blogs out. There are lots of freebies, tips, and great reads!