10 Things About Miss Ferrari

1. I am cat-momma to boy cats. Their names are Hickory and Dickory. Sadly, I do not have a pet named Dock. Hickory and Dickory are enough trouble just the two of them. Dickory likes to play fetch with his toys and Hickory used to climb into ceilings--he probably still would if I would let him. They won't drink out of a water dish (we're working on this) and they get into everything, but they're pretty good bug-catchers, so I keep them.

This is Dickory. Isn't he a handsome fella?

This is Hickory. He likes to sleep in the sink.

2. When I'm not teaching, I work at Big Lots. I've been working there for over a year now and even though it's not my intended career, it's still a pretty awesome job. If you're ever shopping at Big Lots and you see me, feel free to say hi, but please do not ask me questions about homework assignments. If you're lucky, you might even catch me singing and dancing to the store's radio station (after the Christmas carols end)!

3. I am mildly obsessed with The Walking Dead. I even have a Walking Dead lunchbox. If I can find a way to work TWD and/or zombies into class, I will.

Some of my many books.

My most recent book purchase.

4. I love books. Buying books, reading books, taking pictures of books, talking about books, giving books, receiving books, writing about books, I like it all. If someone recommends a book to me, chances are I'll read it eventually, but it may take awhile for me to get to it. My goal is to read 50 books by the end of 2013. As of right now I've finished 37...let's see if I can make it to 50! My favorite genre to read is YA and I especially enjoy authors such as John Green, Laurie Halse Anderson, Libba Bray, and Markus Zusak. If you've read a book lately that you think I should check out, let me know!

4. My dream is to one day move to New Zealand where I will live on a sheep farm and teach English to the Maori people. My backup plan is to be a stewardess for Air New Zealand. One way or another I am determined to get to New Zealand. Check out the super awesome time lapse video of New Zealand:

5. I hate winter and I hate being cold, but I do like the magical quality of fresh snow. This will hopefully be my last winter in Maine for a while, so I'm going to try my best to enjoy it. You can enjoy winter from inside, right?

6. I LOVE chocolate. My top three favorite kinds of chocolate are Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, Peanut Butter M&Ms, and Peanut Butter Snickers. Notice a common theme? Apparently chocolate and peanut butter make me very happy. 

7. I have been an unofficial member of the Mt. Blue English Department since September 2007, first as a teacher's aide, then an intern, then a mentor, a practicum student, a student teacher, and finally as a substitute teacher. Some of the English teachers I've worked with don't even work at Mt. Blue anymore! Basically, I've been practicing this whole "being a teacher" thing since I was a Junior in high school.

8. For three summers while I was in college, I worked at Verso Paper in Jay. For my first two summers there, I worked in one of the dirtiest, smelliest, most dangerous areas of the mill testing chemicals to make sure that everything was working properly. Even though some of the things I had to do were scary and sometimes pretty dangerous, I really enjoyed this job. I worked with some fun people who made the 12 hour shifts bearable. My last summer at the mill I worked in the storeroom. Think of a giant hardware store, like Home Depot, except our stuff was spread out among different warehouses. The mill workers would put in an order for what they needed, and I was one of the people responsible for filling their orders. It was a BUSY job, but I again had awesome coworkers who made everything fun.

This is a picture one of my coworkers drew of me. Looks just like me, right?

9. I love going to concerts. Concerts I've been to include: Grace Potter & the Nocturnals (x3), Journey and Foreigner, Journey and Pat Benatar, Girl Talk (x2), Streetlight Manifesto and Reel Big Fish, Snoop Dogg, Keith Urban, and America.  

This is about one-third of my collection...

10. I collect nail polish. I have around 200 different colors, but I hardly ever paint my nails. I don't have the patience to sit still long enough for them to dry, so when I do paint my nails, they usually get smudged within a few minutes. But I still like to buy new bottles.