These are a few of my favorite things

Being home for Thanksgiving means many things to me. It means having my precious mother doing things for me that normally wouldn't occur if I still lived here. (i.e. fixing me breakfast, getting me medicine if I need it, baking with me, etc.) It also means sitting with my sister Amber watching countless hours of YouTube videos. These have been a few of our favorites this holiday season, all courtesy of MadTV. You're welcome.


Who doesn't love Bon Qui Qui? I haven't found anyone yet.


Now these last few are a classic favorite in the Shropshire house hold. Her name is Dot and to US she is hilarious. Maybe not to you, but I love it. And I PROMISE there is a boy in my class who acts almost exactly like her. EXACTLY.

Dot on Oprah


Dot and ADD


Dot and the Good News Forum


And in other news...CHRISTMAS IS OFFICIALLY HERE!! YAAAAAAAAY.

Did someone say "Vampire"?

Yes, that's right, vampire. I am somewhat ashamed to say I have fallen victim to a most heinous crime; I have become involved in the tweeny Twilight saga. It is also a fact that I spent the latter part of my Saturday afternoon engrossed in the lives of supposed teenage vampires and one loner teenage girl. I tell ya, though, there is something endearing about that blood thirsty beast. Despite the fact that, at points, he does want to kill his girlfriend because of her "delicious scent", he really isn't all that bad.

I must give credit to many friends for the introduction to this book. Dom for allowing me to borrow her copy. Joy Allen for telling me how deliciously wonderful it was (and the fact that she sort of wished her sweet husband was a vampire after reading it) and Katie Sandstead for always having a love for vampires and werewolves despite what the masses said. I am only on the 1st book so I don't need people ruining things for me and I do plan to see the movie when I'm finished (despite the lackluster reviews from book fans). I always feel when seeing a movie based off a book (Harry Potter, Narnia) you have to be willing to seperate the two. They are, after all, based on the book, not taken entirely word for word. I have, in fact, been reading the Chronicles of Narnia to counter the dark vampiredom that looms over me before sleep. I can't be having dreams about people sucking my blood. I'd much rather dream of a sweet, tender lion singing life into a lifeless land.

I will say that I have not gone into full blown vampire mania, but I will say this; if I ran into Edward Cullen on the street, I would definitely not be sad or terrified at all.

Oh the places you'll go...and have been

Let me preface this blog by saying that I love living in Birmingham. It's such a great place with loads of fun things to do. The weather is great, there are actually seasons, it's wonderful. However, every now and then, I get a bit nostalgic for the simpler college times back in the good old M-O-B. I look back I realize how much I took everything for granted. I have decided to compile a random list, in no particular order, of the great and wonderful things I miss about college/Mobile.

1. My sweet wonderful family and friends. I LOVE my friends in Birmingham (Lucy, Dom, Tiley, etc. etc.) and my wonderful sister Leigh and brother-in-law Matt who are here, but I can't help but long for the days of living in the Chi O house and being right down the hall or in the same room as or right across the yard of some of my very best friends ever. Being able to go to my mom's house and sit and do nothing when the "stress of life" got to be too much. The crappy thing about growing up is that you have friends and family spread out everywhere. I vote we all have a reunion in Mobile during Christmas...maybe for my birthday?! Any takers? Come on...


Some snap shots of the lovely people of my life...

2. FOOD. Everyone who knows me knows that I love food. I don't have what some would call a "mature taste" but I definitely have an appreciation for the simpler foods. I also love to go out to eat. It's just something about sitting with your friends, enjoying good food and delicious cold drinks that just feels right. There are some deeeeelicious places to eat here in the Ham, there is no doubt about it, but I miss Foosacklys, Butch Cassidy's, Mellow Mushroom, The Oyster House, Los Rancheros, the list goes on. I can't wait for Thanksgiving break so I can hit up at LEAST 2-3 of these lovely hot spots.

3. The University of South Alabama. Now, I don't miss going to school. I've always been a firm believer that college would be a lot cooler if classes didn't get in the way, but I miss the CAMPUS of USA. I miss the piers there, the Chi O house, picnic benches, playing racquetball, sneaking foreigners in TO play racquetball, the Delta Deli, heck, I even miss the student center (which employed myself and many others for a little over a year). I miss being a part of groups and thinking I am "so busy." What I wouldn't give to be "that busy" again. I barely have time to think. And believe me, I know there are about 2342908234 people out there far busier than me at the moment...since I have taken over an hour puttin this post together. :)

4. The Guilt Free days of Doing Absolutely Nothing...and Loving it. Now, I still do this on occassion (but I rarely get to sit and enjoy it because I'm always thinking of the 17000 things I should be doing), but it seems as if when I was in Mobile, I always had someone to sit around and watch endless hours of movies/television with.

5. Grace Community Church. I love that place. When I was in Mexico in summer of 07, the Lord truly convicted and convinced me of the importance of the church as a believer. It's been said by
many that the church isn't just a building, it's the people in it. This is the best way I can describe this wonderful church. I love the people, I love what it stands for, the teaching, the music, it's laid back feel. I miss it every Sunday, but I know the Lord will give me a church here in Birmingham that I love just as much as Grace.

I'm sure there is so much more that I miss and love about Mobile, but I know the Lord has a divine and wonderful plan for ever season of life He brings us into. I feel like my life always comes back to Psalm 16:11 "You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand." Wherever I am and whatever I am doing, I need to remember and believe the goodness of the Lord. He is always in my presence, filling me with His wonderful joy. I know in a few years, I'm going to look back on this time in my life and long for things to be as simple as they are now, but for now I want to remember fondly the amazing people I've met, places I've been, and things I have done...and look forwards to all the things to come.

Heads up-7 Up

I feel like the Lord let me be a teacher for no other reason than the fact that kid stories really have to be my favorite genre of stories ever. The things they say, do, and think, constantly leave me puzzled, perplexed and undoubtedly dumbfounded.

So today was Friday. Friday at school means you finish up the week, give a spelling test, continuously bribe them with rewards of stickers/cookies/candy/books to try and keep noise level at a dull roar, and obviously Friday is Friday FUNday. Well, this Friday happened to be a bit of a rainy, chilly Friday, at least when it came time to go to recess.

On rainy recess days, instead of going straight from lunch to the playground, we go take a bathroom break and go back to the classroom to play a fun rainy recess game. You know, a little 4 corners, doggy doggy where's your bone, and my personal favorite, Heads Up-7 Up. Well this particular game of HU-7U started out on a bit of a bad note. 3 kids were left sitting out due to "loud lunchroom volume" and blatant shouting in the hallway during our bathroom break. So I was left with 14 kids playing for the 1st couple of rounds. Finally I let everyone join.

I love playing games with my kids cause their reaction when someone guesses them or gets things wrong is priceless. It's very hard for me to remain an "adult" in the situation when how I really want to react is, "NOPE! WROOOOOOOONG!" "Sit doooooown!" "Maaaaaybe next time!"

Anywho, back to my ORIGINAL story. We were on about the 4th or 5th round of HU-7U (ok, so maybe rainy recess sometimes lasts a little bit LONGER than outside recess, but I don't see any recess police around coming after me) when one of the funniest kids in my class gets to join us in the picking of 7's. I mean this kid is hilarious. The faces he makes, the things he says. He is one of those kids who will give you a hug 17 times a day because he knows he is in trouble and KNOWS he is cute and tries to manipulate you with it. He constantly calls me sweetie pie and baby doll and I'm constantly telling him, "You can't say that. It's inappropriate," to which he responds with, "Ok, baby! *wink*" No exaggeration.

Anywho, everyone put their heads down and I sent the pickers to do some upping. He went, he picked, and came to the front with me. He was standing beside me, but kind of a little behind me with another girl who is also very cute and says the most insane things as well. It's like she thinks it, she says it. Well, the two of them are the only ones up there with me, when all of a sudden I hear this muffled gurgley noise. I'm just thinking one of them is swishing spit around in their mouth making a "mouth noise" (which have become the BAIN of my existence as a teacher), so I turn around to ask them to stop when one of the funniest things that has happened this year, happened. I turn around and this is the conversation that insued:

Me: *turn around to ask them to stop*
Boy and Girl: *Both have huge eyes and odd grins on their face*
Me: *I give a look as if to say, "Um what was that."*
Girl: *whispering and with a straight face* "Well he told me to pull his finger!"
Boy: *Looks at me shrugging his shoulders and whisper yells* "I couldn't hold it in!"

AND THAT MOMENT, my friends, is when I lost it. I reacted as if it was one of my good friends who just told me that and I looked at him with my mouth opened, shocked, and then broke out into a silent fit of laughter. They start laughing, he starts wafting the gaseous release everywhere, other children are wondering what is happening, however can't pick their heads up to see because of the strenuous game of HU-7U going on and I have to beg/bribe the both of them not to tell anyone else what just happened.

Shortly after the gurgly toot, the game ended, but everytime I looked at the both of them the rest of the day, I just shook my head and laughed, while they just winked at me and made a weird faces. Farts are somewhat of a constant occurence in my room, though. It's bad. Awful. Silent, loud, violent, you name it, it happens. However, every time one occurs, and is audible, I cannot help but to die laughing. I am 23, almost 24 years old and farts still amuse me. And I wonder why people can't take me seriously...


P.S. I know my stories are SO LONG and dramatic, but I always feel the need to give background information so they can be appreciated even more. So deal with it. :)

Cafeteria Crisis

After reading Kristen's hilaaaaaarious post about being maliciously attacked by a bee, I was reminded of a little event that happened in the life of 1st grade last week and it is called: My entire 1st grade class went nuts last week when we all got attacked by a yellow jacket. Allow me to explain.

My kids and myself are constantly, and I mean constantly seeing gross little creepy crawly critters everywhere in our room. This mainly has to do with the fact that my kids are border line disgusting and always miss the trash can by about 10 feet and tiiiiiiny little pieces of food are always on the floor. Anyway, so bugs are a regular occurrence with Miss Shrop's youngins. And normally, at lunch, because we sit right by the door that leads outside (to the dumpsters no less) we are frequented by the occasional fly. No big deal, just a little fly. Well, one day as I am frantically trying to get my Lean Cuisine into the microwave, have a sip of my DC and get all 18 of my kids through the lunch line, two of my kids start to swat and hit at what seems to be a fly. I start to get annoyed and tell them to chill out it is just a--when I realize, it is no fly. Oh no. It is no bee. OH NO. It. Is. A. YELLOW JACKET.

Now, I do not do stinging insects. I really don't do insects at all. Actually, I hate them. I especially hate STINGING insects. I am literally terrified. Well, after I realize what it was, it seems as if all my kids decide they're going to come and sit down at the table at this time. Well, that leads to mass chaos, kids running around the table, attempting to stab it, YES STAB IT, with forks, squash it with milk cartons, clap their hands together in a spastic like manner. You name it they did it. Some of them even sat there and LAUGHED as it crawled in their hair! Obviously all these "remedies" fueled the Jacket's anger even more as it buzzed and dive bombed every single one of us.

Now, I know what you're thinking. You're thinking, you're the teacher, calm them down, gain control, but there was no calming down or controlling because I was just as freaked out as they were. I attempted to trap it with napkins several failed times, and each time it didn't work, I proceeded to crouch down into the fetal position praying that SOMEONE would rescue me from this yellow jacket hell. This entire event only lasted MAYBE a minute, but it seemed like forever. Finally, another teacher ran to my rescue and swatted the YJ out of a child's hair (cause THAT'S RIGHT, I was just going to let it crawl through this kids scalp. I thought about grabbing it, but my selflessness went right out the window) and squashed it into the cafeteria floor. I told her thank you about a million times and how deathly afraid of them I was and how if there was anything she needed, just let me know! And she told me, "Don't mention it! Now, next time, if it's a snake, you'll be the one I'll call!" Little does SHE know if there's a snake, I'm takin my big a on up out that place.

Jack IS Back

I feel as though I have waited almost 2 years for this glorious event...wait...because I have. 24 is FINALLY returning. With the premiere of 24: Redemption (The Movie) Sunday November 23 at 7/8 central and the premiere of season 7 in Jan. 09, things are finally, FINALLY looking up in the world of counter-terrorism...at least fictionally. And now the preview for season 7 of 24. And you can put me on record for most blog posts in a single day.

Fashion Victims

Sneaky Sneaky Waldo

So after much deliberation I decided to participate in some Halloween festivities. Dom, Lucy, myself, and others went to a delightfully entertaining Halloween party. Dom went as Waldo and photo bombed everyone in sight. Lucy went as a belly dancer because she ACTUALLY had the outfit on hand. Who ACTUALLY has a belly dancing costume on hand? Lucy Tyrone, thats who. She could be seen shaking her hips all night long (and spilling drinks whilst doing so). And I went as a nominee for TLC's hit show What Not to Wear. (I basically decided on this 30 minutes before I was supposed to leave as I was watching an episode of What Not to Wear. Original, I know). You can't see but I wore not 1 but 2 different colored socks; one Christmas sock and one multicolored striped sock. The best part was that my earrings lit up. One of my sweet students gave me a pair of light up earrings after I told her I liked hers, so, naturally she brought me a pair of my own. (Unused, thankfully). For those of you who don't know, anytime children give you a gift, you have to wear it for at least 1-2 days, so I had to wear the earrings to school that day, so I figured they'd go beautifully with my tacky outfit. And obviously I have a backpack to carry all my stuff cause I'm too cool to carry a purse. Naturally. I stole some/all 3 photos from Dom, so thanks Dom. Needless to say, I'm over October and ready for the best holiday of all...CHRISTMAS! Oh and Thanksgiving will be pretty good too I guess.

Cousin Eddy decided to make an appearance. Naturally, his RV was parked on the street.

Oh that Waldo! She was everywhere.

Cookies + Diet Coke = No man

So as you may know, I teach 1st grade. For those of you who know me, I love a good story, and, let's be real, kids make the best stories. I am fortunate to have some very entertaining students in my class. Before I tell you this story, let me say that I LOVE every child in my rooml; however, there are moments where I want to call their parents and ask them "WHAT DID YOU DO TO YOUR CHILD?" but that's neither here nor there.

Anyway, on to my story. Some of you may or may not of heard this one before, but I feel as if it is a constantly developing story in my life. Upon the beginning of the school year I informed my class that no I was not married, did not have children, moved here by myself, etc. You would think this subject, the one of marriage, wouldn't be brought up again after this point. You, my friend, would be wrong.

I would say at least 1-3 times a week I get asked, by my students, if I am married. In the beginning, it was kinda cute. I responded with, "No" then they would ask if I have kids and I would kindly respond, "No" then they ask, "Well do you have a boyfriend" and I would kindly laugh and say, "Aww, go sit down." Well the honeymoon of that question is over. Now I respond with, "No." "Didn't I already tell you I WASN'T married?" "Please stop asking me that." "Sit down and be quiet." I say all that to get to this.

I love sweets. Love them. Cookies, candy, ice cream, anything delicious and awful are my weakness. Well I used to bring Chips Ahoy Candy Blast cookies in my lunch everyday. They're delish, I love them, can't get enough of them. They were my special treat for having to wake up at the crack and face 18 6 year olds. I also have a delicious Diet Coke every day with lunch. No I am not on a diet. I just love them. Well, one day at lunch, I was asked the age old question. I said, "Guys, you know I'm not married." Then one sweet sweet child asked "Miss Shrop, when are you gonna get married." and I smiled and said "I don't know, I guess when God wants me to." Such a sweet child. Then speaks a not so sweet child. He says, and I quote "Miss Shrop, you on a diet? ("NO") Then how come you drink that drink? ("Because I like it.") Man, Miss Shrop, you gotta get you a man! Why you be eatin them cookies? You ain't gonna get you a man if you keep eatin all them cookies!" That child had silent lunch for the rest of lunch. This comment then resulted in others telling him he was rude and then a brief discussion from another boy about how you "don't be telling a woman that! And you don't ask her age or how much she weigh!"

So, in conclusion, don't eat cookies around children. They either try to tell you how much they love them so you end up giving them to you, or they tell you how fat you will become upon consuming them. Needless to say, Candy Blasts cookies haven't graced my lunch box since that day. Maybe one day they will again.

I caved.

So, it's official. I have now caved and got a blog. But as a preface, I will try to keep this as un-serious as possible. Not that I am apposed to a serious blog, but it just isn't my style. I really only got this thing to be cool like everyone else. Kidding, kidding, but I did it. I got a blog. I am now hip.