New blog title, some 30 x 30 and good information

Ever since I started blogging, I have wanted to come up with a better title than Angela's Adventures. It felt silly to have my name in the title. So I feel I have finally settled...well not really settled, but am satisfied with "adventures to remember." In working with children, going to school, being around my family and everything else in between, I feel that my life is a constant adventure and each day brings new and exciting experiences. When I wake up in the morning, I have a general plan for how my day is going to go, a schedule of places to be and things to do, yet at the end of the day when I reminisce on everything that has transpired, I feel I have just been on a great adventure. I never know what to expect even with a plan in mind. I truly love that about my life, and obviously I feel it is worth remembering and hope to spread some advice, inspiration and information through blogging.

With that said, I have failed miserably with my 30 x 30 challenge attempt. This week I wore 2 outfits using items from the 30 I picked, and only caught a picture of one of the outfits, at the left here. Outfit 10 is a Target sweater, which I substituted into my 30 items in the first week, that I wore with my tan LOFT capris. The weather this week was again odd for Florida. We have been having sporadic "cold" weather days. I ended up wearing a black sweater with my blue printed top and black capris another day this week, which were all items from my 30 collection.

On Wednesday I wasn't feeling very well and stayed home except for teaching an after school class with 3-5 graders. I cannot recall what I wore other than black capris. On Thursday the weather was colder so I wore grey dress pants with a black shirt from my 30 x 30 collection and a black blazer. Then, on Friday I wore a grey sweater from my 30 items with black jeans (for jeans day!) and black boots. In case I didn't mention in a previous post, I love boots. I am currently browsing target.com in another tab looking for a fourth pair of boots to add to my collection. I am happy to say I have purchased each pair of boots that I own from Target at the end of winter for very reasonable prices.

Right now my eye is on this pair of grey boots with a heel that pull on, pictured here. I am trying to convince myself to wait until they further go on sale but my wanting is having trouble stopping me.



I am also eyeing this shoe at the left. I tried it on in store today and love it. I have no shoes this color and this shoe is awesome because it has a hidden wedge. The height is not noticeable (under 1 inch) but I love the style and it is comfortable! It comes in four other colors: blush, a pretty mint, soft yellow, and black.


To the left here is a dress I am about to order from target.com. I debated over it about a month ago and now it is on sale for $9.48! I'm finding it difficult to pass this one up and want to at least try it on and see if it works for me. If it doesn't then it will make for an easy store return but my selection of brown clothing items is just a handful and that is sad because I think it is a good color for me.

To add to my horrible failure of a 30 x 30 challenge, I have (obviously) been shopping. I did well with it for the first two weeks but this week I had the itch. I bought both items pictured here for 50% off so it was a steal. The grey pants come to the ankle so I might need to hem them. Ankle pants on my petite body just look like pants that are too short rather than how they should look. This red skirt will hopefully help me add a bit more color to my wardrobe. I end up wearing a lot of black and grey.

Finally, I am sharing some wonderful information. I got the Target REDcard! This was so easy to do and costs nothing and saves you money (5% off your purchase) every time you use it to shop in store or online. The card links to your checking account so the money is taken straight out of your bank account every time you make a purchase.
Perks include:

• 5% off any purchases, in store or online
• free shipping on orders from target.com - no minimum fee
• up to $40 cash back in store
• 30 extra days to return any items purchased with your card

As much as I shop at Target, I am kicking myself for saying "no thanks" every time this has been offered to me in store before. I recommend you get it. It did not even take five minutes to sign up in store, all you need is a blank check and to provide a little bit of information to the employee who is helping you. I walked away with a slip of paper to serve as my temporary REDcard which I could use immediately at the register and my actual card showed up within a week.


On a totally different note, in my last blog post I shared a wonderful thank you note from my friend who is a teacher at my internship site. I thought about her note often this week as I was at the middle school and working with students with a variety of issues. My heart is often hurting for these students we work with. They tell me of their mothers leaving their family behind, they tell me they have lost both their parents in the past 3 years and keep a cupcake I baked for them to have as a treat on their birthday in a few days, they share with me their experience of the moment they found out their mother has cancer, they open up to me about their struggles in finding out who they are in this world. Some of these kids are barely given a chance to make it in our society but they keep fighting. Next week is National School Counseling Week and this past week I filmed some clips that will be played on the morning news each day. I took some examples of morning announcements from the ASCA website and some from my very favorite quotes and sayings. I tried to pick words of inspiration that suit the population of students we work with. I think the following saying, which will be showing next Wednesday to our students, will really resonate with them: An arrow can only be shot by pulling it backward. When life is dragging you back with difficulties, it means it is going to launch you into something great.