I Made it on the RealitySteve Website!

For those of you who don't know, I'm a huge reality TV fan. The good kind of reality TV: the competition style NOT the "Kardashian" or "Housewives" style. My favorites are Survivor, Big Brother, The Amazing Race, American Idol, The Voice, Dancing With The Stars....I could go on but I'll stop there. I also love The Bachelor and The Bachelorette. For most shows, I love the suspense and avoid spoiler websites. However, when it comes to The Bachelor and The Bachelorette, I actually kind of like knowing who the lead ends up with and who gets eliminated when. For the inside scoop, I rely on RealitySteve. He somehow manages to get all the dirty details and spoils the show pretty consistently every season, pretty soon after they end filming it.

One of the features of RealitySteve's blog/website is a weekly "Reader Emails" post, where he posts emails he gets along with his response. Normally, in any situation, on any site, I'm a reader only. I don't engage on message boards or comment sections. Really, the main reason is that there are a lot of crazies out there, and arguing is a waste of time. I share all my thoughts on my Reality Bites blog, and talk about the shows with all my friends, so I don't need to do it with strangers. However, last week, I made an exception. Something on The Bachelorette caught my attention, and I just had to email RealitySteve with my observation. I first watched the clip a couple times to make sure I heard what I thought I heard. Because if you're wrong, or make a stupid observation...you will be made fun of publicly on his website. I didn't want to be one of those people. I was pretty sure what I had was worth sharing, and something that not everyone might know or have caught, so I thought I'd take a chance.

So, I'm watching the very first episode of the season, where Andi, our Bachelorette is meeting her 25 guys. Each guy has a limited amount of time to make a lasting impression, otherwise he could be cut on the first night. There's this guy Marquel. We know he's a little strange because he calls himself a "cookie connoisseur", and the love of his life right now is the cookie. He has somehow managed to bring a large tray with an assortment of cookies on it, and he would like to have a cookie tasting with Andi (instead of a wine tasting). He and Andi try several, and then he tells her he has a cookie he knows she will love. He digs to the bottom of the pile and pulls out...the black and white cookie. Immediately, I think of Seinfeld...of course...who wouldn't? And that's even before this happened....

American Idol Bracket 2014

It's official! The American Idol bracket "Queen of the Idol Picks" trophy is in my possession for a whole year! The first year I won it, in 2012, we didn't have the trophy, so this is technically my first time having it, but 2nd time winning the bracket in 3 years. If you recall, the last time I won it, Phillip Phillips was my pick to win it all (based partly on rave reviews in his audition by one of my co-workers). She, and I, were right that year and Phillip won it all, securing 10 bonus points for me. Last year, I narrowly lost (due to a misunderstanding of the rules by the other members of our bracket).

This year, my pick was Caleb Johnson. It was a tough pick, and I had a couple others I was considering. Ultimately, I went with my gut, and the fact that Caleb just seemed like a true performer, who really had his act together. He knew what kind of an artist he wanted to be, and he was so consistent in all of the rounds leading up to the live shows. Week after week during the competition, he continued to make the smartest song choices. They were perfect for his voice and his style. He also challenged himself and chose a few songs that were outside of his comfort zone. But like all of the greats before him (David Cook, Adam Lambert, etc.), he made those surprising song choices into some of his best performances. He was inventive and creative, and always made you wonder what he was going to sing the following week. He continued to escape the bottom 3 every week, and I felt like he only grew stronger and stronger. It was to the point that I wasn't even worried about him ever being in the bottom, because he was just that good.

The other 3 ladies in our bracket, were not so lucky. Ben was chosen as a pick to win it all, and he was voted out in week 3. The other 2 ladies chose Majesty as the winner. She was voted out in week 4. By week 4, I was the only one with my "horse in the race". As our rules state, you can switch your pick to win if your pick gets voted out, but you will only get 5 bonus points if that person wins. Dexter was chosen as a replacement, and he was voted out in week 7. After that, Alex and Jena were the picks by the 3 other ladies. Alex was voted out in week 11. We were now down to the final 2: Jena and Caleb. It was me against 2 of the other ladies, with my Caleb STILL being in it! For the first time, I was really worried that Jena was going to win. The critics and fans all around raved about Jena's talent. I just didn't see what all the fuss was about (If you read by Reality Bites blog, you know my feelings about Jena). 

As we went into the final night, I was still leading the bracket by 2 points. Only Nancy could catch me. I knew I had to be careful, so I weighed by final vote very carefully, and I figured something out. If I voted for Caleb to win, and he lost, I got 0 points for the week. Nancy would get 5 points for guessing Jena to win for the week. Her pick to win was Alex, so she couldn't get any bonus points, but that 5 points would be enough to beat me. However, if I chose to give Jena my vote for the week, I stay ahead if she wins, but even if I was wrong and Caleb won, I still would get 10 bonus points for picking Caleb as my pick to win it all from the beginning. So, the choice was obvious. Plus, I thought it might actually help Caleb by "voting against him". Sure enough...it worked! The other 3 ladies (plus me) picked Jena to win, and it was CALEB!!!! I was so ecstatic! Not just because I won, but because the right person won. All of my voting (50 votes by text, Facebook and Google, and as many phone calls as I could get to go through), plus my mom's 50 votes on all methods proved to do the trick. 

It was another fun and unpredictable year for our bracket. I fully expect to keep this trophy next year as well. :)

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Seinfeld Occurrences

Seinfeld premiered about 25 years ago. It's strange how even today, it is still all too relevant. Nearly every day, there is something that can be related to an episode. Diane, Heather and I started our @SeinfeldOccurrences Twitter account a few weeks ago to chronicle all of our occurrences. Here are our first 12:

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Music Ironicness: Theory Of A Deadman - We Were Men

Today is Memorial Day. A day where remember all of the men and women who fought for our freedom and lost their lives. It's a day when many TV stations are playing war movies, and there are tons of war documentaries. I did so much work around the house, and of course while working, I have my Google Play library playing on shuffle on my phone. I found it interesting and appropriate that the song "We Were Men" by Theory Of A Deadman played. This isn't a song I'm that familiar with, but listening to the lyrics, it's all about troops defending our country.

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TV Ironicness: Hugh Jackman's Entrace on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon

I always DVR The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon for a couple reasons:
1) I can't stay up that late (on a regular basis)
2) It's too funny to miss

So, I always watch all 5 episodes from the week on Saturdays and Sundays, since I have way too many other shows to watch through the week. So, today, I'm doing just that. While watching, I'm also checking my Twitter feed, and I see a tweet from 8 minutes ago, from the Tonight Show. It was featuring Hugh Jackman's entrance. Literally, at the same time I'm looking at this GIF, I'm watching Jimmy introduce Hugh Jackman, and he comes hopping out from behind the curtain. Seriously...it was at exactly the same time! This episode aired 3 days ago, what are the odds the show would tweet that, and I would be watching the exact same thing at the exact same time. It blows my mind!!!

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Music Ironicness: Scars On 45 - Insecurity

I was scrolling through my Twitter feed. One of the accounts I follow, "Fascinating Pictures", posted a picture with the caption "Ignorance". The song that was currently playing was "Insecurity" by Scars on 45, and the line in the song "ignorance is bliss" played at the same time I read the word "ignorance". Whoa...weird!

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Back To 3rd Grade...For The 3rd Time

It's funny how life works out sometimes. Most people only ever get to experience 3rd grade once in their lifetime. But me? I'm going back for my 3rd time! Each time has been for very different reasons. The first one isn't so special, it was as a student, obviously. However, the next 2 events make for a quite interesting story.

To get the full effect of this story, I need to start in the beginning, with my first experience in 3rd grade. That was way back in 1991, and my teacher is Mrs. Handwerk. Wow...that seems like forever ago!

Fast forward to 2005, when I was a senior year at Malone, studying early childhood education. It's a requirement in the last semester to have a student teaching assignment. Because I commuted to Malone, they were nice enough to place me at a school close to home. All of my other field experiences were in Canton schools, so it was nice to be closer to home. I was shocked to find out that I was actually going back to my old elementary school. I was even more shocked to find out that I was going to be student teaching in the 3rd grade...yes...with Mrs. Handwerk! 14 years later, and I end up in the same classroom! An added coincidence occurred when I found out that the other 3rd grade teacher was Mrs. Clark. Mrs. Clark was my 2nd grade teacher! I worked very closely with both of them because their classes switched for certain subjects. I can't tell you how comforting it was to be in a familiar school, with familiar teachers. I really enjoyed my time student teaching, and I had some really great kids. As a side note: I just realized that my 3rd graders from my student teaching class are graduating this year! Oh my goodness!

I graduated in 2005 with a Bachelor's of Science in Early Childhood Education. While looking for a teaching job, I did some subbing. I also continued to work at Lehman's, where I'd been for 4 years as a CSR. Something had been telling me, for quite some time, that I was never going to actually ever be teaching in a school. It was just very hard to picture myself with my own classroom, even though I always really enjoyed my experiences working in classrooms. Other than working on the farm growing up, Lehman's is the only place I had ever worked (and that's still true!) I loved it at Lehman's (and still do), and it was hard to see myself leaving.

A year later, God opened up an amazing opportunity for me. Out of nowhere, a new position was created--"Trainer". It was perfect! Getting that promotion was the best thing that could have happened to me! I got to stay at the place I loved, and (sort of) do the job I went to school for. Perfect timing, and the perfect job...I have no doubt that this was God's master plan for me at work.

You might think that this is where the story ends...but, you'd be wrong. It's now 2014, and it's time again, to go back to 3rd grade...

I never knew this, but Glenda Lehman Ervin, (VP of Marketing and daughter of founder, Jay Lehman), had for years been a Junior Achievement volunteer. She decided that this year, she wanted to pass this on to someone else at Lehman's. Apparently, I was the first person she thought of, so she asked if I was interested. Strangely enough, I had actually volunteered for JA, in 2006 (I think), at Mt. Eaton Elementary School. So, this was actually something I had a little experience with, so I didn't hesitate to accept.

I got kind of excited when Glenda asked me to do it. And that was before I found out WHERE exactly Glenda volunteered. Yep, you guessed it...Dalton Elementary. I was going back "home", yet again. And to my surprise, guess which teachers are still teaching 3rd grade. Mrs. Handwerk and Mrs. Clark! Seriously...what are the odds?!?!

So, today, I went back to 3rd grade for the 3rd time. It's been 9 years since the last time I was there as a student teacher, and 23 years since my first time, as a student. Wow. I think it's truly amazing how all of these seemingly unconnected things have been miraculously interwoven! Don't you think?!

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Music Ironicness: William Tell - Jeannie

This morning, my friend Jessica and I were talking about another co-worker, named Jeannie. Not long after, the song "Jeannie" by William Tell played randomly on my Google Player. What are the odds?! I have over 8500 songs, and it plays THAT song?

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