These are my five.

As promised yesterday, here are the five people I think I would need to meet before entering heaven. (I'm not including all of my immediate family because I'm working under the [hopefully true] assumption that everyone I love will be in heaven.)

This is a hard blog post for me to write, reader. So please respect where it's coming from. And if you didn't get to read yesterday's blog post, please do so first as you may not understand this post otherwise.

Okay, deep breath. *inhales, exhales* These are my five...  (click to read more)

Who are your five?

Yesterday I began reading The Five People You Meet in Heaven with my juniors. I was very excited because it's the first time all year I get to read a novel with them, since we've been focusing on the FCAT nonstop since day one. Now that that nonsense is over and done with, we can finally get on to the stuff that really matters. Like reading. (Ironic, n'est c'est pas.)

I chose this book because I wanted something that would be an easy sell for both boys and girls, plus I just really love the story. If you've never read it before (gasp), I'll try to tell you a little bit about it without ruining it for you. It's about a man named Eddie who discovers upon dying that he must meet with five people from his past and resolve particular issues with them before he can pass on to his eternal reward. It's such an interesting study of heaven and earth, of life and death, of love and hate, and everything else that comes in between -- all of the intangibles that are so hard to put into words. The author Mitch Albom has that rare gift of putting those intangibles into words.

Before first cracking open the book with my students, I asked them the following short response question: If you had to meet five people before entering heaven, who would your five be and why?

Their answers were largely predictable -- my mom, my dad, my boyfriend, my girlfriend, etc. But one answer took me completely by surprise -- a girl in my class asked, Miss, what if it's a person whose path I haven't crossed yet? Would that be okay? I looked at her for a heartbeat and a half, then decided to go with my gut. Sure, hun, that's fine, I told her. Then I whirled back around and asked, What if I were to tell to tell you that your paths would never cross in life. Would you still want to meet this person in heaven? She looked me right in the eye and gave me a blinding smile. Oh yeah, she said. I couldn't help but smile back.

 picture via we heart it

Who are your five? I'm curious to know your answers, reader. Share them with me in the comments. I'll share mine tomorrow. Oh, and in case you missed yesterday's post, don't forget to enter my giveaway!

It's giveaway time! {jessicaNdesigns}

Jessica, the lovely lady behind My TwiLife and jessicaNdesigns, is graciously offering any one of the pieces in her store priced $25 and under. Here are some of my favorites:

What's great about her necklaces is that you can customize them with the initials of your choice, which makes them a wonderful idea for presents and commemorating anniversaries and weddings. You can see all of Jessica's designs in her etsy store.

Want to win your own custom designed necklace? You've got four chances at winning.

1.) Choose a necklace priced $25 and under.

2.) Follow my blog and twitter.

3.) Follow Jessica's blog and twitter.

4.) Blog or tweet about this giveaway.

I will announce the winner on Tuesday of next week. Good luck! :-)

Edit: Just to clarify, you can enter a total of four (4) times by doing all of the four items listed above. Feel free to let me know if you've done them all in one comment, as some readers have done below, or you can comment four times if you like. :) I will still count it as four entries. Oh, and don't forget to include your email address!

Lolcat of the Week

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

And just like that, my spring break is over. Boo! Oh well, at least I officially start summer vacation in nine weeks!!! :D

Have a great Monday, everyone!

P.S.) In case you missed yesterday's post, yes, I changed my blog layout yet again, but I am so in love with this layout that I don't see myself changing it for at least the next 30 years. Srsly. Oh, and I made this new blog button to match it, so please grab it and feel free to shamelessly promote me.

<center><a href="http://anniecristina.com/"><img style="width: 194px; height: 125px;" alt="my sweet old etcetera" src="http://i1025.photobucket.com/albums/y315/anniecristina/sweet38-2.jpg" title="my sweet old etcetera" border="0" /></a></center>

Week in Review

I can't believe how fast my spring break week went... So much happened -- I went to a wedding, nommed on some pretty spectacular cupcakes and cheeseburgers, celebrated a friend's birthday, and attended a teacher's rally against SB6. And best of all, I finally got my thesis back on track! I found a new committee leader and now hope to finish the first draft of my thesis by June 1st. That has been worrying me for so long, and it's just such a relief to know that it is possible and can be accomplished.

Something else good that happened? I scored this sweet new blog layout from Rainy Day Templates! Thanks so much, Ellie, for creating my layout so quickly and being such a pleasure to work with -- it's exactly what I wanted. :-)

After seeing the results of my week-long poll on whether I should keep or kill the Lolcat feature, I learned that 90% of my readers want me most definitely to keep it, so I will, at least for now. But I may have other new features hidden up my sleeve... Stay tuned!

Here are some of my posts from this week that you may have missed:

7 films I can't wait to see

10 confessions

boycrushes & girlcrushes

Who wants to reread ECLIPSE with me?

I hope you have a blessed Easter Sunday with your loved ones! :-)

picture via we heart it

Who wants to reread ECLIPSE with me? =)

 (A portion of this post was originally posted on my Twilight blog, The Danger Magnet.)

Now that April is finally here, you know what’s around the corner, right?! ECLIPSE!!! As of today, we only have 87 days to go before we can see the film. I can almost hear Alice saying in that twinkly voice of hers, “It’s time…” And what better way to prepare for it than with a book discussion on Eclipse.

The TDM Discussion Series: Eclipse will formally begin on Tuesday, April 27th. We’ll be reading 3 chapters a week, the last of which (the Epilogue) will be discussed on June 29th, the day before the film is released. Just as before, recaps will be posted on Sundays, so be sure to participate in the discussion every Tuesday from April 27th until June 29th! (See the reading schedule below for more information.)

So spread the word, tell your friends, and please do participate in the discussion. Here’s a button you can place in your blog’s sidebar to help me promote this book discussion. You can link it back to this post because I’ll be updating the reading schedule with the individual posts’ links.

I can’t wait to start rereading Eclipse with you! :D

Here’s the reading schedule:

Tuesday, April 27 (Chapters 1, 2, 3) 
Tuesday, May 4 (Chapters 4, 5, 6) 
Tuesday, May 11 (Chapters 7, 8, 9)
Tuesday, May 18 (Chapters 10, 11, 12) 
Tuesday, May 25 (Chapters 13, 14, 15) 
Tuesday, June 1 (Chapters 16, 17, 18) 
Tuesday, June 8 (Chapters 19, 20, 21)
Tuesday, June 15 (Chapters 22, 23, 24) 
Tuesday, June 22 (Chapters 25, 26, 27) 
Tuesday, June 29 (Epilogue)  

So who's interested in joining my book discussion? Remember this discussion won't be taking place here but rather on my Twilight blog, The Danger Magnet. Hope to see you all there! :-)

Happy Easter Weekend!

And just like that, my spring break week is over. Oh well, it was fun while it lasted. At least I still have the weekend! And it's Easter weekend, to boot. I don't have anything special planned, really, other than my friend Jeannette's birthday party tomorrow. I still need to buy her gift and scrounge up something cute to wear... I saw a Liberty of London top at Target that might do the trick. Hm, I should get on that.

Tonight, Ricky and I might go see "The Clash of the Titans." I'm a fan of the original because it reminds me of my childhood (I is an old lady), but I'm hoping this new version will be just as good if not better.

As for Easter Sunday, I've got no big plans at all, other than perhaps preparing lesson plans and maybe doing some more research for my thesis. I finished my second draft of my first chapter last night (I've outlined to complete 3 chapters). It finally looks like it's coming together, and should all go well, I will be graduating in Fall 2010. *crosses fingers, eyes, toes, etc.*

picture via we heart it

I hope you have a wonderful Easter weekend! :-)