Quarter of a Century Club!

If I would have known that turning 25 was going to be so freaking fun, I would have acted more excited about it beforehand. I don't know why, but 25 just sounded so.... old er...mature? Not way old, but like, shooooot I'm old enough to rent a car + I should probably stop asking for suckers at the bank? But I'm over it, because 25 was probably my best birthday yet!

It all started last Thursday when I walked into a fully decorated classroom + presents from previous students and co-workers (all of whom know my love language is food). Oh, and if you ever want your birthday to feel really special, be a jr. high teacher--your students are more excited for your birthday than you are ("Do we have to do anything today since it's your birthday on Saturday?"). It also didn't hurt that I had the next day off from school.

Sadly, Chris was in St. George on my day off on Friday, but he totally made up for it with the vinyl machine that I sent multiple emails to him about a month in advance ;) Saturday (my actual birthday) started off with my most favorite, most artery clogging breakfast--The Champ from Ernie's! Then I took advantage of what I like to call "birthday Chris," and had him take me to Ulta to pick up my free gift there (makeup is my second love language) and then we headed up to Salt Lake to stay at the Marriott Hotel up by the U.

I had to say bye to "birthday Chris" when we got to the hotel, so that he could watch the BYU game. BUT the hotel brought up a beautiful tray of delicious food and I was able to play with some new makeup while the Cougs played, so I was okay with giving "birthday Chris" a break.

After the game was over Chris took me to one of my fav restaurants, Alamexo! Kind of pricey, but definitely worth it. If you ever go there please order the queso fundido! You can thank me later for it.

The rest of the night was spent shopping at City Creek and hot tubbing at the hotel. I really don't think I could have planned a better birthday than that. And it sounds so stupid to say, but I feel like this fun birthday and little staycation was just what I needed you know? I feel refreshed + recharged + more accepting of the fact that I'm part of the quarter of a century club.

With each passing year there's always one thing that remains the same on my birthday--Remembering how blessed I am! I have the best family and friends that always take time out of their day to wish me a happy birthday, and I am always so grateful for it (even if I forget to proclaim said gratitude on Facebook... oops!)

As you can tell, year 25 of life is already off to a great start! The only thing I'm not so sure about is giving up suckers from the bank.... that might have to be a half century kind of thing. We'll see.

Cheers 25, cheers.

because I haven't mentioned teaching in a while

If you're wondering why September's almost over and I still haven't posted about my students/teaching in general, you're not alone--I'm wondering the same thing! Because it's definitely not for lack of content... there is never a dull moment in jr. high! I'm certain of it. I guess you could blame my lack of blogging this month on the fact that season 14 of the Ellen show started! Chris walks in from work almost every single day to me in mid-ugly-crying-from-Ellen-feels-face, and man, that can really take it out of ya! In all seriousness though, there have been a lot of changes (good and bad) going on at the Gourley house, and teaching has remained my constant, and I am so, SO grateful for that!

With September almost being over, I'm at that stage where my student's personalities are fully showing--I love it! The best is getting to know them through some of the assignments I give at the beginning of the school year. My favorite is probably the Bucket List Book assignment, where I have my students write down 10 things they want to accomplish before they die, and then they take a few of those bucket list items and turn them into "SMART" goals. Giving this assignment has taught me that there are 2 kinds of kids in jr. high: the kids who make goals like, "get married, become a doctor, or publish a novel," and then there's the other kind who make goals like, "fill a hot tub full of jello" or my personal favorite from this year, "Get a first kiss." Behold:

And in case you're wondering what "romance" is in jr. high.... it's going to the movies.

Aren't jr. high kids just the best?! They seriously kill me. They also think it's a really big deal that I have fake Yeezy shoes, and I'm always flattered when they think they are real and that I can afford $600 shoes. Yes, jr. high kids are a good breed. A good, hilarious, weird, confused little breed that I enjoy getting to know more and more every single day.

I'm sure there's more I can fill you in on for this 2016-2017 school year, but I'm just going to leave it at that for now, because it's my day off and I have a birthday weekend to prepare for + mourn the loss over Brangelina (JK. I was always team Jennifer!!) + let my basic white girl out and make pumpkin everything in celebration of it officially being Fall now.

Happy Friday! I've missed you, blog world.

Never Forget

I know I was very young when this event took place (I was only 9 years old), but this day still stings for me. Like the rest of the country, I completely remember where I was and what I was doing that September morning. I remember seeing my mom staring at the TV and she just kept saying "Oh my gosh, oh my gosh..." I remember entering Mr. Andrus' classroom to all my classmates buzzing and asking "did you see the news?!" and then the principal calling over the intercom to the teachers to not discuss anything about it (but my teacher did anyway). I remember just being so confused... maybe a little scared, but mostly just confused. I think that's why this day stings to me... because every day after September 11, 2001, I started to understand more and more about what really happened that day.

It's crazy to me that 9/11 happened 15 years ago, it feels like only a few years ago. But it's even more crazy to me to think that I'm a teacher to students that were not even alive yet when it happened. Do my students even understand how scary that day must have been? Do they even care that their country was attacked? Will they "never forget" what happened that day? 

May September 11th always fuel our love for our country, our respect for those who serve it, and our desire to fight for peace in our world.

I will never forget.

2 Thumbs Up for Year 2!

When your husband is out of town and can't take your obligatory "First Day of School" picture, you end up awkwardly giving the camera two thumbs-up and realize that's about as good as it's gonna get. . . at least the Fonz would be proud? Ayyyy.

Year TWO of teaching started today! It was wonderful and exhausting and exciting and everything else that first day of school dreams are made of. My students are freaking adorable and there are a couple of classes that I can already tell I am going to LOVE (specifically my class that wanted to debate whether Cafe Rio or Costa Vida was better). PLUS! I am going to be in charge of the school's HOPE Squad (suicide prevention) this year and I'm so nervous + excited about it. And did I mention my students are freaking adorable? Because they are. I really didn't think I missed teaching this Summer, but after today I realized how much I did! Oh, "teacher's high"-you've been missed. I'm finally feeling motivated to be a kick-A teacher, and to make a difference in these kiddos lives! 

Hello 2016-17 school year! I am SO ready for you! Now let's just hope that I'm still wanting to awkwardly give the camera two thumbs up at the end of this year... 

Goodbye Summer of Shay

I really thought that going back to school today and setting up my classroom would make me more excited to get back to my teaching gig and have all the motivation in the world to be a kick-A teacher this year. . . but it didn't. I'm still very much in Summer of Shay mode.

What are pants? 
What's the date today?
What's the password to my school email again? 

It's kind of hard to be in school mode since I had a pretty good send off this week from the Gourley gang. Monday we went to the pool (my second home this summer) and had pizza and nachos for lunch! (Thanks, Gourley girls!)

And if pool day with the Gourley gang wasn't enough. . . On Tuesday, me and Martha had a movie marathon day! Three movies + two Swig drinks snuck into the theaters = one epic day! I think this might need to become a tradition!

Can you blame me for not being in teacher mode yet? This Summer of Shay has been so good to me! Like, SO good. But I guess it's time to trade in my pool bag for my backpack and my flip flops for tennis shoes (life of a PE teacher is super glamorous-obviously). I'm thinking once I'm with my students again the teacher feels will come back, but for now, I'm just going to mourn the ending of a great summer.

Sigh... I will see you in 10 months, Summer of Shay. It's not too early to start counting to Christmas break, though.... right?!

Ready or not, here we go 2016-2017 school year!

Master Chris!

Chris graduated with his Master's of Public Administration on Friday (August 12th)! Well, technically he graduated back in June, but he walked on Friday and we celebrated! Annnd I got to play paparazzi wife for a while. Any excuse to celebrate my lover dover bobber and go to Outback ;) 

I am so, SO proud of you Chris!!! I got to see first-hand how much hard work + dedication + sacrifice it takes to get a Master's. You never cease to amaze me.

I love you, Chris! Or should I say,  MASTER CHRIS!? ;)

Things I Repeatedly Buy At Ulta

If you know me, you know my happy place is roaming around Ulta with a very large dirty Dr. Pepper in hand. All I would need is Chris waiting by the register in there an telling me to get whatever I want. Ha! Chris despises that store, so I guess I'll settle for Shelbs + my dirty Dr. Pepper as my Ulta shopping companions for now.

Anyway, besides drenching myself in free samples of Marc Jacob's Daisy perfume, there's a reason, or I guess I should say reasonS, I love going to Ulta, so I thought I'd share them with you. Now you might look at this list of products and think, "But Shayli, I can buy these at places other than Ulta," and I would admit that you're right, but I always get these at Ulta because I get points for buying anything there. It's like I'm being rewarded for buying makeup... yes, please! I also love that Ulta has a drugstore side AND a high-end side... you get the best of both worlds! (Right, Miley? Sigh. I miss Hannah Montana.)

Philosophy Purity Face Wash- This face wash is the only face wash I've ever had that completely removes my make up (except eye makeup). Even after a couple of years of using this face wash, I still get giddy after I dry my face with a white towel and there's not a single trace of makeup left on it! This product is also bueno bueno because it doesn't dry the $h!z out of your skin, like most face washes do.

NYX Butter Gloss- Very rarely do I leave Ulta without one of these bad boys. There's a reason they are called "butter" gloss--so smooth + creamy + not sticky at all! There's a huge color range of these, too. The best part is, they all smell like cake. Um, yes please. Go get one and thank me later.

St. Moriz Self-Tanning Mousse- I'll be honest, I have never tried any other self-tanners besides this one, but that's probably because most of the other ones I've seen are over $30 a bottle. Ain't nobody got time for that! So when I saw this one for only $12.99 at Ulta, I thought, "Why the heck not?!" and I'm so glad I did... because I love it! Super cheap, looks super natural (no oompa loompa-ness), and a bottle can last for a long time (mine lasted about 5 months). I will say that it doesn't smell good, but I'm not super sensitive to that kind of thing + that's probably what you get for paying only $12.99 on a self-tanner?

Benefit Hoola Bronzer- This bronzer is usually the reason I venture over to the high-end side at Ulta--and for good reason! This stuff is amazing. Like, I've-gone-through-4-pans-of-this amazing. This is one product that I would definitely recommend splurging on ($28 is splurging for me). It works on really fair skin to really tan skin, even though it looks so light in the pan. It's my favorite to use for contouring for sure, and the brush that comes with it inside is perfect for that. Plus, as dumb as it this may be. . . I think the packaging is so cute! Dang you, Benefit, and your adorable products!

Loreal True Match Foundation- The foundation I always always come back to after trying a new one. I also love the True Match Lumi Foundation, it just depends if my skin is super oily at the moment or not (the Lumi is not going to be your friend if you're super oily). This foundation has a huge range of colors, and I think this foundation is super build-able. You can use it for just a little bit of coverage or you can go full coverage with it, and it won't look super cakey. The only thing I wish was different about this foundation is that it came in a bigger bottle, and had a pump for application instead of having to just pour it out...but that's it! Trust me, there's a reason everyone on YouTube talks about this foundation.

Real Techniques Sponge- Speaking of foundation, how did I ever apply my foundation before this sponge?! I've mentioned it on the blog before, but it's worth mentioning again--it's such a good blending sponge!! And so much cheaper than the Beauty Blender. I love that it has a pointed edge so I can blend out my concealer, but then has a smooth, flat edge that I can press in my foundation with. Using this sponge to apply foundation makes the foundation look so natural + flawless! Like the NYX Butter Gloss, it's very rare I leave Ulta without grabbing another one of these. Trust me, it's worth the $6.


...phew! That was a lot of typing, but....but.... I just love Ulta, okay!? And I'm guessing if you read this whole post, you love it, too? (Did we just become best friends?!) Tell me what other products I need to be buying on repeat at Ulta!