Photo update...

Well, this will be a brief update of this fall... We have been busy! I got a new job teaching a pilot program, focusing on dropout prevention. I LOVE MY JOB!!! In other news:

Took Brent to Auburn for a game and a tour...

I spent most of my academic college career in this building. The rest was spent at the bar in the library.

Yes, he will wear MY school colors when I threaten him I politely ask.

WAR EAGLE!!

 My fabulous niece Annslie (who loves her Aunt Anna) with me at a high school football game. We sit and cheer for the Wildcats in the vain  hope that they will win a game!

I had a terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad day recently (story later). However, my sister-in-law is absolutely amazing and she and her husband (the brother in law) teamed up and sent me flowers to cheer me up!

Because we had a rough week, Brent and I retreated to Atlanta for the weekend. We went to the Sun Dial Cocktail Lounge (awesomeness) for dessert after a HUGE dinner at Ted's Montana Grill. This is also the only picture from that weekend, as it was Atlanta Pride weekend. Don't know what that means? Google it.

Annslie loves her Uncle B.B., and I caught her giving him a kiss during the Homecoming game.

After the Homecoming game was over, a certain 3-year-old wanted Aunt Anna to buckle her up and watch a "moobie" in her mom's car for a few minutes. Yes, she was holding my face (rather forcefully, I might add), and no, she would not let go until I saw Barbie dressed as a princess.

That's pretty much our fall, up to this point. We still have a Bama game, an Auburn Homecoming, a high school rivalry game (that will be ugly), a trip to Decatur to see Bethany, Addisyn's 2nd birthday, and Halloween to get through in the next few weeks!

Yes, I suck at blogging

I am sooo writing this on my lunch break at work.

Yes, I do not do well with this whole "blog" thing. Ok ok, my last post was seven-ISH months ago. It's been a busy year!!

Anyway, while I'm writing, might as well include the fact that I have a new job! I am running a dropout prevention program for at-risk students... and I LOVE every minute of it. My kiddos are fabulous, and keep me entertained on a daily basis. They also have the unique ability to keep me grounded and have shown me just how blessed I am to have grown up with such wonderful parents.

Life has had its ups and downs lately, and this past week seems to have had more downs than anything. But that's another post for when I need to get things off my chest.

For now, just a quick update.

Brent and I just got back from a weekend trip to Atlanta. In true O'Hara fashion, when things get rough, I go to Atlanta for a change of scenery. After lots of shopping, walking, and a trip to the Sun Dial Cocktail Lounge, we came home to a HUGE dinner at his mom's house. I am still stuffed. My closet must have shrunk the pants I am wearing today... this doesn't just happen to me, right? RIGHT?!

Rant, and I love my job.

WARNING.
You are about to read a rant.
Thoughts expressed in the following words may not be suitable for all audiences.
Reader discretion is advised.

I would like to say that my feelings have REALLY been hurt lately. I don't mean just a little bit, but a LOT. I was once a very sensitive person, but was made to have thicker skin in college (thank you, K. Brumbeloe for constantly holding my feet to the fire). That being said, it now takes a lot before my feelings get really hurt. Well, it's built up enough and I've hit the boiling point. Before I go through the roof, I would like to say a few words:
I will not tolerate being ignored.
I refuse to be made to feel unvalued.
I will not allow anyone to make me feel inferior.
and finally, I will write off anyone who makes an attempt at any of the previously mentioned behaviors.

In case you can't tell, I'm quite pissed. However, my personality will not allow me to be confrontational...yet. That day is coming, and the merde will hit the ventilator.

Moving on and exhaling now...

Married life is great! Brent and I are adjusting to life as a couple fairly well. There have been some what-the-he**-are-you-doing moments, and oh-my-gosh-what-did-you-eat-to-make-THAT-smell moments too, but I guess that just comes with the territory.
I love him with my whole heart though. How could I not?

Now, let's talk about my job and why I love it.
No, not because of the pay (teacher salary is pretty sad, and only getting worse).
No, it's not because of the paperwork (there needs to be a musical called "Springtime for Special Ed").
It's because I love my students, and I love where I work.

Being a first year teacher is pretty tough. Feel sick ALL the time, learning new names and new faces EVERY day, and have you ever had morning duty on an elementary hallway? If I had a nickel for every time I have said, "You need to walk," or "Slow down" or "FOR THE THIRD DAY THIS WEEK, QUIT RUNNING," I swear I could have paid off my house, my student loans, and Brent's law school loans.

Now for the happy part. I've been at NSM long enough for the kids to know that yes, even though I look sixteen, I am a teacher and I have authority. That being said, there are also a lot of little ones that stop in the mornings to say hi and get a hug to start the day. One sweet girl in particular, we will call her Callie.
At the beginning of the month, we had a day that we spent in the hallway under tornado warnings. Really, there were two hours spent in the hall, books over kids heads, teachers going around making sure everyone held their position. Well, Callie is in 1st grade and was absolutely terrified. She hates storms, and I do too, but had to be the adult in the situation. So as soon as we got in the hall with their books over their heads, Callie started sobbing. I don't mean little tears. I mean that kind that will make a kid start dry-heaving. Baby girl was SCARED. Me being the nerves-of-steel person that I am, I went over and sat down by her and started talking to her about anything and everything I could think of. She sat up and I saw that tears were running down her little face onto her Justin Bieber t-shirt. I told her she had to stop right then because she might smear Justin's face. Then she said he was her favorite EVER. *lightbulb* I told her to put her book over her head, and when she bent back down against the wall to just sing every JB song she could think of. I got her started by bouncing around with my arm around her shoulders singing "Baby" in my squeakiest voice possible. She laughed, and sang every song she knew, twice.
Since then, Callie has stopped by to get a "Mrs. Benson Bear Hug" every morning. Of course I don't mind.

Wedding Slideshow

Newlywed Living

We have been married for a month! I can't believe it. I haven't written in so long, and so much has happened since then. Quick rundown:


Thanksgiving:
We ate lunch with my parents and enjoyed spending the day with them. Of course we had the extremely traditional pot roast with carrots and potatoes, sweet potato casserole, turnip greens, and rolls. After we ate, we crashed on the couch and watched the Westminster Dog Show, during which we all fell asleep. Once we woke up and were able to walk after eating so much, we went to Brent's family gathering. I love spending time with his family because it is such a contrast to mine. My family holidays consist of me, Mom, and Dad (and now Brent). His family holidays include EVERYONE. His mom has two sisters, they and their husbands each have two kids (watch this): Cindy has Brent and Drew, Wendy has Matt and Megan, Sissy has Jeannie and Sarah. Now add in 7 spouses (for the sisters and their kids combined, myself included) plus one fiance. Now add in 5 grandkids. Pencils down kids. If your total is 21 people, you are correct! If not, go back and try again. Going from a gathering of 4, to a herding of 21 is quite a jump, and we do it every holiday. I love it.


Before panties get wadded, I will note that my dad's extended family is just about the same size, but we don't get together as much. I love them very dearly, and wish we got more time together.


IRON BOWL:
my school won. Brent was not happy. We didn't watch the game at all... we went furniture shopping instead and picked out leather furniture for our living room. We got a massive sofa and love seat that we just love.
Oh, I totally celebrated the outcome of the game after Brent dropped me off at my parents' house.


Wedding:
I honestly barely remember anything. The rehearsal was a lot of fun actually. I had nine beautiful bridesmaids and Brent had ten handsome groomsmen. 
Originally, the guys were going to be at one house, and the girls at another. We ALL wound up at Brent's, and had a wonderful time laughing, sharing stories, cracking jokes, and relaxing before the big day.
The actual wedding day is a massive blur to me. I remember getting up and showering, waking up my sweet cousin Bethany so she could get ready, running errands (before 8 a.m. mind you), and making it back in time to help B get her hair the way she wanted it. My wonderful Maid of Honor (Steph I love you) was my rock the whole day. If I needed anything, she took care of it. We ate breakfast at Cindy's boss' house, and I had to dine and dash to get my hair done. I did that, and made it to the church just in time to get my makeup done and then it was picture time. 
Here are some favorites(more are available at lifesmirrorimages.blogspot.com):

Yep, married that guy.

Most of my lovely ladies, and we did this in heels!

Some of the boys... and they are HILARIOUS!

This was at the very beginning of the ceremony...

With this ring...

Reception:

Over 400 people we are the ceremony, and just about everyone came to the reception. I felt so very blessed and humbled by the out-pouring of love of friends and family.

Dad and I danced to "I Loved Her First" by Heartland. Then it overlapped into "Born to Boogie" by Hank Jr...cause that's how we roll. 

People got out on the dancefloor with us during BtB, and stayed there for so long!

Right before we left, my mom and a few other women handed out Auburn and Alabama shakers. We left the reception to the theme song from Sports Center, after leading the crowd in a loud Bodda Getta from me and a RTR from Brent.

Honeymoon:
We went to Ocho Rios, Jamaica for 5 nights. It was absolutely wonderful! I will hopefully post pictures from that this week. We met some wonderful people and came home with great memories and no sunburns!!


My birthday:
We came back from the honeymoon on my birthday. When we got home, gifts were under our tree and our house was ready to be lived in. Brent gave me perfume for my birthday, and then we crashed.


Christmas:
We woke up to SNOW on the ground!! Our first White Christmas EVER. We opened presents and then headed to Cindy's for Christmas there. I loved spending Christmas morning with my new family. We watched my nieces open their gifts and it was so fun watching two toddlers swim through wrapping paper and get so excited over each present. Then, we went outside:

Drew, Amber, Addisyn, Annslie, Aunt Anna, and Uncle BB

A huge snowball fight started right after this photo.

After we dried off from the snowball fight, we went to my parent's house for fried turkey and more presents. We also got my dog, Spud and took him home. Once we were there, we crashed, again. We were just so tired!

New Years:

Went to sleep by ten. Yeah, we're old.

Brent's birthday:

I had a workday at school, but came home and gave him a sweatshirt and a homecooked meal (meatloaf and fresh -not canned- greenbeans).

This week:

We were snowed in ALL WEEK. As a result, my house is very clean, laundry is done, and we painted our bedroom! Pictures will come later because now, it's time to carry on with our work routine as usual.

Owwww....

Female friends, you probably know where I'm going with the title of this one. Yep, it's that joyous time of the month... the time when I get the urge to take a pair of salad tongs and give myself a hysterectomy.

That being said, I must now say that Brent is amazing. As soon as I said I was in pain, he went and got out the cheesecake left over from the weekend. I'm training him, and he is a fast learner.

What a fun weekend! We went to Tallassee Friday night, and went to sleep about ten minutes later. I had to "sleep" in a bed with my sweet grandmother. Notice how sleep is in quotations? Yeah, well, if you've ever tried to sleep with a running chainsaw, then you understand my Friday night experience.

Saturday, the ladies in my family teamed up to give me a beautiful Christmas shower. It was so much fun! Brent and I got a lot of wonderful presents and things to cherish for years to come. I love getting to spend time with my littlest cousins. Mac snuggled up with me on the couch and we had a tickle fight. I won, of course, but he got a few good tickles on my ribs. There was one point where Ried was sitting on my legs, Mackey was at my side, and Grant was on the back of the couch on top of me. My sides hurt from laughing so hard! I can't classify Bethany into my little cousins category anymore... she's getting her permit this month! I can't believe it. I'll get all mushy about that later...

Actually, I need to go to work around the house with Brent... ugh. More later.

update...

Well, here we are... few months later. I am a full-fledged teacher now, with all the rights, privileges, phone calls, paperwork, and school lunches thereof. 


I love my job! I work with the most diverse group of students, and they never cease to amuse and amaze me. Quote of the day: "My momma has red hair, but she dilated it."
Yeah.


Sweet story: My beautiful niece Annslie is right in the middle of potty training. She is so funny about it! She goes every time she has the urge, and I mean EVERY time. Annslie will tell you "pee pee! pee pee now!" and when she says that, you better be ready. Well the other night, we were all over at Cindy's house, and by all of us I mean me, Brent, Amber, Drew, Cindy and the girls, Annslie and Addisyn. We were eating chicken enchiladas for Drew's birthday, and Annslie looks at me and says, "Anna! Anna! Poop! Poop! Poop NOW!" So, Aunt Anna takes her to the potty. Sure enough, she did what she said she needed to do. As she is sitting on the potty, taking care of business, I'm sitting on the floor and we are talking about her school and her friends, when she stops and says, 
"I yuv you Anna." 
She can have anything she wants. 


Brent and I went to get wedding rings this week. I didn't take a picture of his... because mine is prettier and more sparkly.

I'm so ready to wear this thing. I put it on in the store, and was lost in my own world for a while. Brent said, "Hey Babe, you need to give that to me so I can put it in the box."
Fat. Chance.
I wore that thing around the mall, to dinner, and halfway home. I say halfway because Brent made me take it off once we got back into Alabama. Le sigh.


Oh, got the wedding dress this week. Quite excited about that. I need to lose about two pounds, but I'm sure the stress alone will take care of that... well, combined with the Special K Challenge I will be doing for two weeks beforehand. I would LOVE to post a picture of it, but since Brent reads this, I'm gonna have to wait. Oh suspense...


Over the weekend, I went to one of my favorite places EVER:
.

Tailgated with some amazing friends, had a blast. I was once told, "from the outside in, you can't comprehend it, but from the inside out, you can't explain it. Auburn is a place that gets into your blood and remains forever." WAR EAGLE!!
In the background of that picture, you can see the top of the Haley Center. I spent three years of my life in that dang building... *shudder*


I got home tonight from being out with my (future) sister-in-law Amber, and (future) cousin Megan. We ate Mexican and hated on boys. It was fabulous. It turns out that Megan's ex, whom she dated for five years, has been having an affair with a married mother of two. So, naturally, Amber and I took her out for a bit to remind her how to be single and work it.
Success.


Yes, I know this entry has been very random and totally ADD... but that's my life.
Deal.