I before E except after C and sometimes Y and......

Oh, the English language. The genius that spoke and wrote it first must have thought we were all going to be born with super intelligence. So. Not. Right.

I thought I would share with you some common words that give me pause until I associate them like so:

Friend: Friends are there until the -end (fri always comes first)
Desert vs. Dessert: The desert is an isolated place (only one S), while we always want seconds of dessert(two Ss)
To vs Too: When we have TOO much, there's extra. (like the extra O). If you want to add to the list, add an O too.
Than vs Then: If you explain what happens nExt in time, use the E. Any other time it's the A.
Vacuums sUck, that's why there's an extra U
Lose vs. Loose: When we lose something it's only with one O. We lost the other one. When we find it, we realize that extra O is quite LoOse.
When using They're vs. Their...take apart the contraction to see if it still makes sense in your sentence. Also, Their is possessive, it's takes the E and hides it with the I. There has nothing to do with people, only a place. Over there. :0)

Do you get confused when writing sentences like these?  She and I went to the store together. OR She gave me and my friend a lollipop. Take apart the sentence and you'll know which to use. She went to the store/I went to the store. Okay, those are two complete sentences so I know I used the correct pronoun, I. For the next one; She gave me a lollipop. She gave my friend a lollipop. What if I had written, She gave my friend and I a lollipop? Wrong! Here's why. She gave my friend a lollipop. She gave I a lollipop. Hmmmm nope.

What about you? Any neat tricks you use to remember spelling or possesiveness? Leave us a comment! :)