I should mention that my future mother-in-law made me the most beautiful quilt for Christmas. It is absolutely perfect.

 

I have officially returned home from a week-long break for the holidays. I received mostly gift cards for Christmas and a few other things to enjoy. With my gift cards, I've purchased a few clothes for work/everyday and a couple accessories for my camera. 

Jet and Sadie

Laurie drove back and met up with Dana and I one day which was awesome! She hadn't been to my parents' house for years, so we met there to check out the location for the wedding--which is great, by the way--unless it rains, but we won't think negatively. We went shopping together in my favorite town, ate at Chipotle (which was surprisingly very, very good), and relaxed while we talked for at least an hour. While talking, Laurie mentioned that she wants try to move back to that area, and I was quietly excited!

The brother making us breakfast.

My family and I spent a good amount of time playing Yahtzee, and luckily my uncle sent me the game as a gift also. We all went out for seafood one night with our gift cards (mom's way of getting us all out for a family dinner together--good idea, I might add), which was so gooood. I had Mahi Mahi topped with lobster and "lump crab meat." We had a nice Christmas together, though as I get older, it feel slightly more strange to get more than a couple of gifts. I wonder if I'll have as much next year now that I'll be "independent" (and married). 

More picture-taking.

Dana and I took a day to get coffee at my favorite joint and work on wedding invitations. We stopped to see some old friends where we used to work which was wonderful. They hadn't seen me since the engagement, and since they worked with Justin, too, they were and are very excited for the occasion. 

Hippo girl.

I got a lot of compliments on my long hair throughout the week, which was surprising to me. Personally, the longer it gets, the heavier and more tangled it gets--maybe that's only noticeable to me? I plan to keep growing it as long as I can stand it! :) It is definitely worth it because I can throw my hair up in a hair tie any time I want. My bangs are also growing out... which I haven't decided on yet. I feel like my forehead is quite large--not a bad thing, just a family trait--so I need to see how I look without them. I always end up going back to the bangs. 

Bangs in mid-growth haha.

 Now that I'm back, it's back to thinking about school and cleaning. It's time to put away the Christmas decorations and get ready for the new year. I have to plan for the next 3.5 weeks of school, but as of recently, I haven't been stressed about that at all. I am reminded how much I like the kids. I think it's just the dread of working every single day now that I'm in a "real job." This happens to almost everybody, I'm sure. 

The New Year of 2011 is just around the corner......

Here's my list from last year... let's cross out what I did: 

As far as 2010--

1. internship
2. graduation B.A. English
3. FIND JOB Hollla! Far better than I expected, too.
4. save money Not really...this year I'll actually have a paycheck to save.. yes!
5. buy car
6. lose 20 lbs (haha!) Lost 15 and gained it back... does that count? Guess that'll go on the list again lol.

HAPPY NEW YEAR! Here's my little list of things I want to do this year: 

1. De-clutter

2. Lose weight

3. Get a job in the area I want to live

4. Get a reliable car if the Jeep breaks down

5. Find a place to live or buy some land for future building (this is what I'm most excited about)

6. Get married with as little stress as possible :)

Are you as excited as I am about 2011? What are your plans? 

xo

It's midnight.

Had a great walk with the dog--there's something beautiful about a winter night (when it's not too cold), getting out of the home for a bit.

Wrapped all the presents I needed to, and I'm so glad that's over with. I have the most fun making the gifts look as tacky and wacko as possible--finishing them off with an artsy name tag of my creative side.

This next week is going to be great.

Beef Tenderloin

J really knows how to make a good steak, lemmi tell ya. We had an early Christmas dinner tonight with Laurie and our friend Garrett. On the menu: beef tenderloins cooked in pears, thyme, garlic, grape juice, salt, and pepper; french-style green beans; homemade mashed potatoes; key lime pie for dessert. Perfect! It was SO good! I love having a handsome man that loves to cook! Lord knows I don't like it much.

Tonight I'm staying up to bake cookies for all 86 of my students tomorrow (I almost have all of their names down...). I'm also trying to decide exactly what to do for the last day. In first block, we're going to read the last chapter in Animal Farm then watch another section of the movie. They're also turning in their short stories (for me to grade over Christmas break.. but let's not think about that). Second and third are going to watch some clips I found on youtube about drama and watch the cartoon version of The Grinch. They'll have something drama-related to do for that by tomorrow.

Oh, and I had my interview today for the school. I'll admit I was a bit nervous--first interview and all--but I think it went reasonably well. They praised me for taking over since they said I'm doing them a huge favor, and they told me again how they've heard positive things about me. Phew! The questions they asked were a little hard, though. I wish I could have just said, "world peace" as my answer for everything, but no.

By the way, in first block today, a student came up and gave me a gift card to Barnes and Noble. How sweet!! All I could say was (in a very abnormally high-pitched voice), "Aw, thank you, that's so nice of you!" To be honest, I was a bit shy. I always have been shy about receiving gifts... even at Christmas. I did my best, however, to show how thankful I was--my voice change was to hide how tired I was, I think.

Anyway.... off to bake cookies!! 4 more batches to go....

While looking up videos to show drama, I found an old favorite: Enjoy :)

2 days!!

 

2 days until Christmas break. Can you tell I'm counting down every moment I can? I'm currently playing an old Christmas album I found to try to get into the Christmas spirit a little more. Taking on a new job, preparing for an interview, and finishing up student teaching isn't what I would consider, well, Christmas-ee. 

I hope you all have a wonderful, beautiful Tuesday. This is what I have planned:

Block 1: Animal Farm! & Short Stories

Block 2 and 3: Practice One Act Plays, Perform One Act Plays, small activity??

Block 4: Planning Interview

Tuesday Night: 

1. "Christmas Dinner" with friends

2. Stay up all night (yes? maybe? bad idea?) to watch Lunar Eclipse

2. Get some sleep, set alarm, wake up to see Lunar Eclipse, go back to bed

Wednesday:

LAST DAY OF WORK BEFORE CHRISTMAS! 

Wednesday PM/Thursday AM:

Off to enjoy Christmas break!

It's final! The Jeep has officially broken down. At least we made it about four months! I was thinking it was going to break down sooner than that. Unfortunately, as I've said before, it was fine when we bought it, but it started acting up about a week later. That's what I get for buying a used car! Ah, well, makes things more interesting that way, right!?

Anyway, it has been towed to a nearby car place to get fixed. So far they have told us the transmission fluid hose has fallen off, and the fluid has leaked out. So far our bill is $300.00. Woo! Let's hope that's all that's wrong, and it's not the transmission. That would be unaffordable at this point. Perfect timing for the holiday season! We had this happen last year, too... with our other car--different problem, though.

This is what's weird about the whole thing, and no I'm not superstitious: At least two other friends who own Jeeps, in the past week, have had their Jeeps break down. On the way to work this morning, I saw a dead Jeep on the side of the road. Lastly, when I posted that my Jeep was on the side of the road, an old friend told me that he was in another state, in his Jeep, at that moment, on the side of the road. Hahaha. How wonderful.

I need to start a Jeep forum!! I'd have enough people in just my group of friends. What's funny is that I still really want another Jeep after this one is gone for good. I always have loved them, and I think I always will.

3 days

I have three days to get through before Christmas break.

...already wishing it was Wednesday.

Black Swan

***spoiler warning***

I did not like the movie Black Swan. Sure, it was a well-made, psychological thriller. However, it was too close to horror for me. There were too many moments where the entire theater gasped and cringed at what we were seeing, closed our eyes, or even felt a little sick. It turned into a movie about a girl who is basically paranoid and schizophrenic. It made me feel the same. As much as I wanted to see the movie and as far as I drove to watch it, I have to say I won't be watching it again. I wish I liked it more... it's getting great reviews by everyone. Maybe the horror scenes were a little too much for me, while others can handle it. Darn.

Quick Side Note:

I feel like I look like a different person at night when I'm home, comfortable, and ready for bed. Don't you think?

After two snow days, I'm feeling fresh and revived. Yesterday I hung out with my friend Ginny. We watched a movie, took a walk to take pictures, and grabbed a pizza on the way home. She and I always have some great conversations. Today I woke up with Justin, who was in a particularly cuddly mood (always wonderful). I then went to see "Black Swan" with Laurie (not recommended.. I'm never watching it again), and we took an adventure through a few towns. We found a great restaurant that we ended up loving, and our trip ended with a good coffee. Overall, it's been a great couple of days.

What's even better? I now have a weekend. I'm going to sleep in tomorrow and later go for a quick Christmas shopping trip with J. I'm going to clean our apartment (with help from him, of course) and do some lesson plans to get a head start for when we come back from Christmas break. For Monday-Wednesday, I plan to continue Animal Farm with my first block and continue the one act plays with second and third. Three days. Then break. Then 3 1/2 weeks until the semester change. We'll see how it goes.

I get interviewed on Tuesday. Wish me luck.

Pictures from the last few days:

It was one of those days...

...where I rethink my life long goal of being a teacher and jumping right into a job on my last day of student teaching. Today was one of those days where I waited to get in my car before the tears started flowing. It's amazing that in 12 weeks of student teaching, this never happened. Now that I'm taking over such a horrible situation (and all the others know it and feel my pain), I am feeling the consequences. I have to keep thinking to myself that I have just 3.5 weeks after Christmas break. I really need to remember, however, that I have just 2 more days until the weekend, then another 3 days until Christmas break. That seems backwards, I know, but it's hard to get in the Christmas break mode when I know I have an interview for the school on Tuesday.

Things will get better--that is a definite. I should also mention that not everything is bad.. just a couple things that happened today. There are some wonderful kids in my classes, and I get a ton of support from them.

Now... off for some needed sleep.

Bring on the SNOW!

4 Years of Lovin'

It's been 4 years of lovin' for my sweetie and I. Who would have thought I was right when I told my friend that he "might be the one" on the way home from school the first week I met him? Usually I leave out the sappiness, but I'm going to share our story with you now....

I was working at a retail store about ten minutes from my house. I really loved my job, and I was very close to the other employees I worked with. A few months before, I had gone through a rough break-up, had been dating around, and began to give up on a relationship of any kind. I was not desperate at this point--no. I was very picky. My previous relationships had taught me all of the things I didn't want in someone and also what I needed.

One day my friend Kenny came to me rambling on about a new guy, tall, handsome, kind of looks like you, perfect for you, starts working this week--all this crazy stuff. I thought he was crazy and went along with my business, though I couldn't help but get a little curious.

Later that week, Kenny rushed to tell me that the new guy was coming in for his first day. I stood with my friend hanging ornaments on the wall and the Christmas tree when I saw a tall, handsome guy walk in. I wasn't wearing my glasses, so there was a glow around him--couldn't tell what he looked like, but I noticed that he was wearing a jacket with two pin stripes (is that what you would call them?) down each arm. I looked down to see myself wearing a sweatshirt with two pin stripes down each arm. Too funny, I thought. Weird coincidence, of course (Later, I grew to hate that jacket.. it felt like plastic!) I heard him introduce himself to my boss -- I heard his name: "Justin." My mind kind of swirled as I realized this was not good!! His name was Justin!! That name from a long-term ex of mine. At that point, I told myself it wasn't going to happen. There is no way I want to date another guy named Justin. However, Kenny assured me that this new Justin was single and oh, so nice, and soon I would see what he was talking about.

How quickly this unraveled...

At first he was a quiet, shy type--not my favorite. However, something kept me interested in him... something that just drew me to him, really. We started talking each day we worked together--rolled rugs together (haha), asked for help finding things, just so we could hang out, and more. During this time, I found out he was in fact not single, but he was dating a girl from his college. (I didn't take this much into consideration, though, because he didn't seem that passionate about her or the relationship--was that so wrong of me?).

One day, we were outside unloading the truck and discussing artwork and photography. He mentioned an old manual camera that he really liked to use. My dad had just given me his old Pentax manual camera, so we suddenly had a reason to go out: photo shoot.

Our first "date" (definitely not a date... clarification: He was dating another girl... we went out as friends to take a few pictures and chat) was in my favorite city, driving around taking pictures and listening to music. We ended up in the mall parking lot sharing songs and talking. By the time we were almost home, it was close to midnight. We turned off the car in the parking lot we had met in and continued talking. His mom and my mom had been calling, wondering where we were. We stayed out talking until 3:30 am., and we both had to work the next day. Something happened that evening, he tells me now, that told him he had to be with me. Little did he know, I had decided this in the first week I met him. (Call me a home wrecker, but I was determined to get him to myself lol)

Long story short(er than it could be): He ended things with the other girl. They weren't very similar, and they hadn't been together long, but he was still very sad that he had to hurt her. We started fresh together after a couple months of getting to know each other, and he soon told me he loved me with a journal. His brother had given him a journal a few years back, and after he met me and decided he loved me, he wrote a journal entry about it. Showing me was his way of telling me how he felt. This was really neat because if you know me, you know how much I treasure journals and the art of writing by hand.

After that, we became closer and closer. I remember:  celebrating New Years dancing to a band that imitated the Beatles (we were the two youngest people there), going to pick him up for the first time when his dog had to be put to sleep, and he was so sad, taking a trip to see a Shakespearean play, going to the beach with his family, then by ourselves, riding to school together even if we didn't have to, watching movies in the basement, our first Christmas, our first year.........

One very late summer night, as sappy as this may be, he stopped me on our walk, held my shoulders, and pointed up to a set of beautiful clouds. We then decided what they all looked like, back and forth. He then took my hand and started running, running, running. I ran screaming behind him. He told me to just let loose, so we ran, screaming, down a hill to the lake.

On one summer day, we decided we wanted to go paddle boating, but there was no truck to get it to the lake. We carried that darn thing all the way from my house down to the dock. It was the craziest-looking thing I think my neighbors have ever seen, and it was so hard!

We have come so far since then. It's hard to put into words. In 4 years, we have become a family, and we have successfully become teachers. Justin understands me too well--he knows how I think, and he loves it. He knows what bothers me, and he usually avoids it. We both understand the power of education, knowledge, and teaching, and we uplift each other. Most of all, he knows where my weaknesses are, and he strengthens them. I support him in all he does and bring out more of his silly side. I relax him if he is stressed, and I believe in everything he is capable of doing.

With no exaggeration, he is the nicest and most caring person I have ever met. He has one of the largest hearts of anyone I know, and any I can bet that you have met. And I'm lucky enough to have met him. I'm lucky enough to have won him over.

He is my dream guy.

Sure, some days aren't great, and other days I want to just quit my job and run to the hills, but overall, this has been a fantastic ride. I'm writing this because this is the last time I will celebrate the years we have been dating. Next year, we will start our new life together with one last name. It's scary, it's exciting, it's beautiful. I can say that I am gracious to God that got me here and thankful for all of the decisions that brought me to Justin.

He proposed on a late-night walk with the moon and stars out on a warm, perfect summer night, while overlooking the beautiful open field and lights from the buildings. I warmly said yes as we laughed on our way home to call family and friends. We're getting married in June, and it's going to be perfect: rain or shine.

We will live life together: He will continue to bring out my inner-nerd, and I will continue to bring out his inner-hippie.

Everything is going to be okay, everything is meant to be, everything has its purpose.

Happy 4 years, J. Love ya.

What's new?

Other than that, I'm simply teaching, teaching, teaching. I'm waiting for the weekend ever so patiently--or at least trying. I applied for the full-time position yesterday that begins on January 25th (the principal told me to), so let's hope I get it (even though, yes, I was hoping for those few months to just... breathe). Time to begin the real world.

My classes seem to respect me and like me. I'm working with them more each day. We are all becoming this little knit group that is bounded by trust--so far, I have exceeded the attendance record of both previous teachers, as well as, of course, all of the substitutes they had.

Drama is really fun--more fun than I thought it could be. Even though a lot of my time is spent up walking around helping, it's worth it. One girl even said, "wow, our other teacher never helped us like you do." There have been a lot of other nice comments from students so far, too. One funny comment I heard today, however, was that another teacher heard I am mean from one of her students. Honestly, I'm happy to hear that! It was from first block, and they were rather talkative and such, so if they think I'm "mean," that simply means I'm doing my job. They needed structure--here I am. I did take some time to talk to individual students today at the end of the block--I think that helped them seem more of my bright side. I try to be "bright" a lot in there, but considering it's 7 30 in the morning, I am rather quiet, and it is that much harder to show a big smile. My cheeks haven't even woken up yet. The other issue is that we're reading Animal Farm, the students hate it, and I am having them listen to it--therefore, we all kind of fall asleep. Unfortunately, there is no other way to do it because we need to finish it before Christmas break. I might try to get them to read a bunch of it for homework tomorrow night. My previous classes wouldn't do reading for homework, and they struggled with it, but maybe these guys will? I'll let you know how it goes....

Other than school, I've been getting forms ready to send for my teaching license. I've also been hanging out with my friends any chance I get.

This book is the topic for my English 9 class until Christmas break.

Dresses

Unfortunately, I can't show you my wedding dress... but, I got to show all my friends and my mom yesterday! They loved it. We even picked out a veil (something I didn't think I'd ever wear) and a headpiece (something I really didn't think I wanted). To my surprise, they looked wonderful together, and I had the beautiful Grecian look I wanted. My bridesmaids all loved their dress, and it looked great on them! My mom didn't get a dress, but she got ideas.

Overall, I had a great time. The only thing was I was a little weird about all of the attention being on me. They had cameras out ready to take pictures, and I was slightly shy about that. I'm not one to want the entire store/other brides watching as we pose for a picture! Sometimes I'm weird about that kind of thing. I let them take a couple, but pushed them away for the most part. One picture in particular, though, turned out lovely. It made me wish I had smiled more for the others. Next time I go for a fitting, I'm going to allow myself to be the center of attention--I mean, heck, why not?

In other news, I started my job this past Friday. It was a rough day: I am now on a schedule of teaching blocks 1-3, THEN having planning 4th. I'm used to having planning during block 1. Big change. I also am used to having small class sizes. Now I have two classes of 30, one class of 24. The two large classes are slightly overwhelming with learning names and keeping track of everyone. I teach one class of English 9 and two classes of Drama (9-12). I think the drama has potential to be really, really fun. However, they have had a crazy year with lots of substitutes, so they are not used to structure or a teacher. They're going to give me a rough time until they trust me, and I'm okay with that. First block was great--they were so ready for the structure and to learn. Second was nuts. Let's hope it gets better. Third was fun and hilarious. The kids were great for the most part. Let's just say......it's going to be one hell of a roller coaster ride. 1 1/2 weeks and I'm off for Christmas break. Thank goodness! Then just four more to go before the change of semester and students.

I'd love to share some pictures I've taken recently.. but I'll make a new post for them :)

Tomorrow I begin my adventure as a high school English teacher. Wish me luck!!

Great blog I've added to my list. This guy will say anything. He's a former professor and writer. His blog will range from ranting about politics to sharing poetry. This is one smart dude.

http://edweathers.blogspot.com/

Percussion instruments make me (hot).... swoon.

It is Wednesday, almost Friday, and I'm so close to being done with student teaching. I sat and thought about it today and seriously? I think I almost got teary-eyed. That's how attached I am. It's kind of like a first love I guess. I'm going to try to pull my sappy self together before Friday, though. My pride will be hurt if I shed a tear in front of those kids lol. I also can't cry when I hug my teacher goodbye. Seriously.

So, tonight I'm working to forget about the last day and enjoy a night inside. I have yet another 2 hour delay tomorrow (third day in a row)! J said he would be out working on a project and paper "all night," so I grabbed some take-out Chinese food on the way home, put in "I Love You Man," and held my Ava in my lap. Perfect! J came home shortly after I settled in to tell me how busy the library was, and he felt like he would work better here. Haha. Anyway, I'm still relaxing--finished the movie, so I'm sipping some Cinnamon coffee, playing some Worms, and holding my cat. Again, perfect!

What's strange is I'm now in the mood to clean... ahh, such a woman. Since this never happens, I plan to clean and straighten and organize after I've had my fill of my game. Sounds like a good night to me!

PS: I'm going to take my camera out soon and get some shots of PEOPLE. I want so badly to use it for portraits. It's just been so darn cold outside, it's hard to think of holding a camera. It also gets dark early, so that doesn't help. Soon, I promise!

I like your beard.

http://evrd.net/post/5048/

http://www.etsy.com/search_results.php?search_query=beard+hat&search_type=handmade

I'm tempted to buy one.

Silence

...is all I got from the AP class I taught today. I'll just say this: It was the most nerve-wrecking, awkward-silences class period I have ever taught. It didn't help that not only my college supervisor AND my cooperating teacher were sitting at the back table observing me. What a day. I'm absolutely determined to get more out of the kids tomorrow and to make class more interesting. Who would have thought AP would be so much more difficult than my other class? I ask them about word choice and diction, and they look at me like I just asked them what their favorite color was! haha. I need to step up my game. I will say this: I learned a lot today, and that is the most important thing. I should also add that I got a great review from both teachers--they could tell I was nervous, though. They said I will learn with experience. Overall, I got an "A" and I'm going to get my teaching license. Awesome.

Tonight should make up for it: Coffee with Laurie, leftover chicken parmesan, homework and planning in a cozy bed, and gym. Let the good times roll.

Delay

My school is delayed tomorrow! That's a pretty nice start to the week. However, I won't get any more sleep than usual because I will be staying up to finish the work I have for tomorrow. It's kind of a huge week for me. Not only is it my last week student teaching, but I am also getting observed tomorrow. All of my forms for the school are due, so I'll have to overnight them to my supervisor by the end of the week. I also applied for a job today for a middle school position in the area--that took a lot of the time I could have spent on lesson plans. After this week is over, however, I plan on job hunting for a retail position if I don't get hired in a school. I also hope to substitute.

In other topics (while I procrastinate all the more)--I want to simplify my life a bit. I'm sick of looking at old purses I don't use anymore and shoes I don't wear often. I'm very tired of looking at clothes I haven't worn in over a year or that don't even fit me. Before going home for break, I'm planning on a few trips to the thrift store to gift away my stuff, as well as setting up some ebay items to sell. I would just give the purses away, but most of them are worth more than twenty-five bucks, so I should try to sell them first--I need the money! I'll try to show the progress I make in pictures throughout my posts. Let's see how many clothes I can give away! That'll probably be a huge pile...

First DSLR Test ..of my pets, per usual.

These are a few samples of the new camera. I treated it as a point-and-shoot, taking pictures of whatever my animals were doing at the time. They are not the best positions/placements I could have done, nor are they the best in-focus shots. However, I am happy with them, and I can't wait to learn how to use it and get better! Can't wait to show you what I learn! 

Today

I shot a gun.

and had this song in my head:

My loves (taken with my point and shoot, I think)

THE BEST NEWS:

I HAVE OFFICIALLY (ON THE FIRST TRY) PASSED MY PRAXIS II ENGLISH CONTENT AREA TEST.

I can now officially be a teacher--as soon as everything is processed. Yes!

My cooperating teacher was out sick today, so I took over the classes she usually teachers, as well as teaching mine. It went great. We read "The Masque of the Red Death" in my class, slave narratives in AP, and a short story in English 10. What really made my day was when a student showed up for my after school make-up work "session"--all this means is I told them I'd stay after a bit today, and they should stay to raise their grades! I worked with the one student after school for a while as we listened to music, and then another student showed up! The three of us ended up chatting for a while (even when they were done working on school work!) It made my day to be worth their time lol. High school students are so egocentric, so even though I already know they like and respect me, it still means a lot for them to spend time with me even when school is let out. 

Overall, it was a great day. I am exhausted, however, but I'm crashing on my friend's bed in front of her t.v. now. I plan to head home after "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" for some needed shut-eye.

Who knew a job fair could be fun? Maybe I just enjoy the interaction with people and the hopes for a job opportunity. I had a few ask eagerly when I could start teaching, and a few others mentioned they know of English positions in their high schools opening next year. Most of the schools I spoke to are at least thirty minutes from where I want to live, but maybe that's a good thing....I wouldn't feel like I see my students everywhere I go. Maybe I could actually go to the grocery store and not see anyone. However, the commute could definitely get long. I'm going to spend many days (as soon as I finish student teaching!) applying at the various school system. I'm more excited than ever, and I feel so positive about the idea of a job. Maybe it's because I asked every person if they had a preference of degree, and they nicely stated they don't mind either way if I have a B.A. or an M.A.! My confidence level then shot through the roof. Let's hope I can grab a job for next year by the summer! Then maybe think about where the heck I'm going to live??

Have a wonderful Thursday!!